ABU NUWAS & OBEYD ZAKANI 'CONTROVERSIAL' DERVISH/SUFI POETS Selected Poems & Prose Translation & Introduction Paul Smith Abu Nuwas (757-814) was the most famous and infamous poet who composed in Arabic of the Abbasid era. His style was extravagant and his compositions reflected the licentious manners of the upper classes of his day. As a youth he was sold into slavery; a wealthy benefactor later set him free. As a man he finally settled in Baghdad...