'Abla bint Malik

ʿAbla bint Mālik, paternal cousin and lifelong beloved of the poet-warrior ʿAntara — the central romance of the Sīrat ʿAntar and of his Muʿallaqa. Daughter of ʿAntara's uncle Mālik, who long refused the match because of ʿAntara's slave-mother birth; their thwarted love drives the cycle's bride-quests and battles. Her father Mālik is named only as the obstacle and is not separately entered.

Domains

• the beloved of the poet
• thwarted love

Powers

• Inspired the verse and quests of ʿAntara as his lifelong beloved

Relations

• lover: 'Antara ibn ShaddadMuʿallaqa of ʿAntara; Sīrat ʿAntara ibn Shaddād — ʿAntara's love for his cousin ʿAbla (primary)

Sources

• existence: Sīrat ʿAntara ibn Shaddād (medieval Arabic biographical-romance) (primary); The Muʿallaqa of ʿAntara ibn Shaddād (the nasīb addressed to ʿAbla) (primary)