O Málik! I pray thee go for the wine full early, And if it be dear to buy, then buy it dearly! Bethink thee how once a grizzled old tavern-keeper, Whose whiskers were black with bl…
Abu Nuwas, born Abū Nuwās al-Ḥasan ibn Hānī al-Ḥakamī in 760, was one of the greatest classical Arabic poets of the eighth-century Islamic world. He grew up in southern Iraq and spent his adult life in Baghdad. Nuwas is best known for his khamriyyat, or wine poetry, and Diwan, his collected volume of poetry that explored religion, pleasure, and homoeroticism. He was imprisoned for a drunken exploit shortly before his death in 814.