Abu Nuwas was forced to flee to Egypt for a time, after he wrote an elegiac poem praising the elite Persian political family of the Barmakis, the powerful family which had been toppled and massacred by the caliph, Harun al-Rashid.
Abu Nuwas u detyrua të largohej në Egjipt për njëfarë kohe, pasi shkroi një poezi elegiaciste që lavdëroi familjen politike elitare të Barmakis, familjes së fuqishme që ishte rrëzuar dhe masakruar nga halifi Harun al-Rashid.