The ancient pre-Islamic warrior poet Antarah ibn Shaddad says in a poem:
فَـعَـيـشُـكَ تَـحـتَ ظِلِّ العِزِّ يَوماً
وَلا تَــحــتَ المَـذَلَّةِ أَلفَ عـامِ
“Living in the shade of glory for a single day,
is better than living in the shade of humiliation,
for a thousand years.”
