Abu Nuwas

Abu Nuwas was a major classical Arabic poet of the early Abbasid period, celebrated for bringing urban life and new subjects into Arabic verse. Born in al-Ahwaz around 756, he studied in Basra and Kufa before settling in Baghdad, where he gained the favor of the caliphs Harun al-Rashid and al-Amin. His poetry is especially associated with wine songs, satire, love, and a modernist challenge to the conventions of the classical qasida.