Books by Abu Nuwas

About the author

Abu Nuwas (c. 756–814) was born in Ahvaz to an Arab father and a Persian mother, grew up in Basra and went to Baghdad, where he became a companion of the caliph Harun al-Rashid and, above all, his son al-Amin. He was famous for his wit, his learning and his scandalous life.

He mocked the old custom of opening poems with weeping over abandoned campsites and made wine and pleasure his subjects instead, but he also wrote hunting poems and, late in life, poems of repentance. He became a legendary figure, appearing as a clever trickster in the Arabian Nights.