# Abu Nuwas

Abu Nuwas (756–814) was an Arab poet who lived in Baghdad during the Abbasid era. He is known for composing poetry about love, sex and wine.

## Quotes

* There are no poems on wine equal to my own, and to my amatory compositions all others must yield.
** As quoted in Three Great Abbasid Poets: Abu Nuwas, Al-Mutanabbi & Al-Ma'arri, Lives & Poems (2015) by Paul Smith
* ألا فاسقِني خمراً، وقل لي: هيَ الخمرُ ولا تسقني سرّاً إذا أمكن الجهرُ
** Give me wine, and tell me: 'This is wine!’ Do not be furtive while it is possible to be open.
*** As quoted in Abu Nuwas: A Genius of Poetry (2005) by Philip F. Kennedy. Arabic text:
* دَعْ عَنْكَ لَوْمِي فَإنَّ اللَّوْمَ إغْرَاءُ
** Cease your reproach, for reproach is only temptation.
*** From the poem Cease your reproach, as translated by Alex Rowell
* Poured from the palm of a girl dressed as boy An intrigue for one of any orientation She lifts the carafe against the black night Her face lit with brilliant radiation Sending from the jug’s lip a stream so bright That eyes, in its glare, close as in sedation Wine so fine, so pure and delicate To add water would be contamination With light alone may it be mixed Giving off dazzling illumination
** From the poem Cease your reproach, as translated by Alex Rowell
* Say, then, to whom affects learning in philosophy Knowing one thing doesn’t comprise an education Don’t forbid others what you choose to eschew For prohibition is, in religion, desecration
** From the poem Cease your reproach, as translated by Alex Rowell
* Auspicious stars had risen on this night When drunkard assaulted drunkard We passed the time kowtowing to the Devil, Until the monks sounded the bells at dawn And [a young adolescent] left, dragging delightful robes Which I had stained with my iniquitous behavior, Saying, "O woe!" as tears overcame him, "You have torn away the [dignity] I had preserved." I replied, "A lion saw a gazelle and lunged at it; Such is the variety of Fate’s vicissitudes!"
** As quoted in Abu Nuwas: A Genius of Poetry (2005) by Philip F. Kennedy, cited as: D. iii, 323–5
* O Lord, even though I have committed many sins I understand that Your forgiveness... is far greater! If only those who’re pure can hope for Your mercy: whom else can one be seeking help, for the sinner? Lord, I’m humbly asking You, like You told me to: who will pity me if of my hand, You’re not a taker? There is no other way I have to You, but the hope that as a Muslim You will be You... the Forgiver!
** As quoted in Three Great Abbasid Poets: Abu Nuwas, Al-Mutanabbi & Al-Ma'arri, Lives & Poems (2015) by Paul Smith

## Quotes about

* He played with sacred formulae, such as the call to prayer: "Come to prayer!" is rendered, in one profane turn, "Come to sleep-together!"
** Philip F. Kennedy, Abu Nuwas: A Genius of Poetry (2005)
* In an ebullient exchange with the Baghdadi singing-girl ‘Inan he wrote: "Gorgeous one! – God has made your face a qibla for me, /So allow me to pray toward your face, and lets have a kiss." Here "kiss" (qubla) and "the direction of prayer" (qibla) are made to rhyme, an almost inevitable rhyming couplet.
** Philip F. Kennedy, Abu Nuwas: A Genius of Poetry (2005)
* It is probably a fallacy to assume, as do some literary histories, that Abu Nuwas composed his ascetic pieces at some point towards the end of his life. Rather, he seems to have composed them throughout his career, stimulated as much by particular events and the varying demands of patronage.
** Philip F. Kennedy, Abu Nuwas: A Genius of Poetry (2005)
* The following complaint sets perhaps the smuttiest tone about the poet’s detainment: "al-Amin, I languish in the sodomites' prison and fear being buggered. Do you wish them to bugger your very own poet?"
** Philip F. Kennedy, Abu Nuwas: A Genius of Poetry (2005)

## See also

* Al-Mutanabbi
* Al-Ma'arri