'Antara al-'Absi

Antara ibn Shaddad al-Absi, the knight and poet of the Banu Abs, author of one of the Mu'allaqat. "Al-Rahiq al-Makhtum" quotes verses from his ode in praise of the pre-Islamic people's drinking of wine as one of the paths of generosity. ²

The author says that among the results of the generosity of the people of the Jahiliyya was that they praised drinking wine, not as a glory in itself but as a path of generosity and something that makes extravagance easy for the soul. This is a theme of praise and boasting in the Jahili diwans. He gives Antara's verses in his ode, in which he says that when he drinks he squanders his wealth and his honour is abundant, and when he is sober he does not hold back from generosity. ² See the virtues of the people of the Jahiliyya.

The life of Antara, his lineage, his mother, and the wars of Dahis and al-Ghabra' in al-Mas'udi and other sources are in the data of this entry, and will be added from those sources.