Shidoub.

At this time the tribe of Abs, which Zoheir ruled over, was at war with
that of Tex, on account of the carrying off of Anima, daughter of the
chief of the Tex, a man known as "The Drinker of Blood." Animated by the
desire to take vengeance and recover his daughter, this chief and his
army fell upon the Absians like a thunderbolt. The Absians were
defeated, and their women, among whom was Ibla, taken prisoners. All
pride was then, in this time of need, laid aside, and to their
assistance Antar was summoned. But before acting Antar laid down his
conditions, and stipulated that, in case he succeeded in subduing the
foe and recovering the women, Ibla should be given him in marriage.
Malek, the father of Ibla, and Shedad, the father of Antar, assented,
and bound themselves by an oath to fulfil these conditions and to
reinstate Antar in all the honors and dignities belonging to him.

Antar was victorious. He rescued Ibla, and received grateful expressions
of gratitude from his beloved, while King Zoheir gave him the kiss of
royal honor. Everything seemed to unite in fulfilling the hopes of
Antar. But at the very moment in which he was honored by royal
felicitations, several chieftains, indignant at the elevation of a black
slave, employed every means to prevent his marriage with Ibla, and to
force him to undertake enterprises which would prove fatal to him.
Shedad, his father, and Malek, the father of Ibla, connived at these
plots. They demanded of Antar, who was of that trusting disposition
which belongs to generous and brave men, that he give as a wedding
present to his bride, a thousand camels, of a particular breed, not to
be found excepting on the borders of the Persian kingdom. The hero made
no remark on hearing this treacherous demand, and was so eager to please
Ibla, that he took no count of the difficulties to be undergone. He set