Antarah ibn Shaddad al-Absi, ʿAntarah ibn Shaddād al-ʿAbsī; AD 525–608), also known as ʿAntar, was a pre-Islamic African-Arab knight and poet, famous for both his poetry and his adventurous life. His chief poem forms part of the Mu'allaqāt, the collection of seven "hanging odes" legendarily said to have been suspended in the Kaaba at Mecca. The account of his life forms the basis of a long and extravagant romance.

The Banu Abs are an ancient Bedouin tribe that originated in central Arabia. They form a branch of the powerful and numerous Ghatafan tribes. They still inhabit the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa but have spread to many other regions of the world, as well. Their descendants today include the large Al Qubaisat tribe located in United Arab Emirates, Bani Rasheed tribe located in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Sudan, Eritrea, and Jordan, and the Banu Rawaha located mostly in Oman and the UAE. They are known to be the second strongest tribe after The Prophet's Tribe. Parts of the Mahas tribe of the Butana region in Sudan are also linked by blood to the Banu Abs due to intermarriage between the Sudanese Rashaida tribe and the Mahas peoples. One of the earliest stories concerning this tribe was the famous classical love and war story of Antar and Abla.