He gained attention and respect for himself by his remarkable personal qualities and courage in battle, excelling as an accomplished poet and a mighty warrior. He earned his freedom after another tribe invaded the lands of the Banu ʿAbs. When his father said to him, "ʿAntarah, fight with the warriors", he replied that "the slave doesn't know how to invade or how to defend, but is only good for milking goats and serving his masters". His father answered him: "Defend your tribe, O ʿAntar, and you are free". After defeating the invaders, he sought to gain permission to marry his cousin. To secure allowance to marry, Antarah had to face challenges including getting a special kind of camel from the northern Arab kingdom of the Lakhmids, then under Al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir. ʿAntarah took part in the great war between the related tribes of ʿAbs and Dhubyān, which began over a contest of horses, and was named after them the war of Dāhis and Ghabrā.