Abu Nuwas Al-Hasan Ibn Hani: Sociological Reading

This research is a reading of Abū Nuwās Al-Ḥasan Ibn Hānī, the Abbasid poet, in light of the sociology of literature. The study begins with Abū Nuwās from his birth in Ahwaz, Persia, until his departure to Baghdad. In this research, I try to read Abū Nuwās through a general idea of the poet s affiliation to the city in contrary to Bedouinism. I will prove in this research that the general frame of mind in which Abū Nuwās thinks is the modern framework rather than the ancient one, he was into the context of civilization in contrary to Bedouinism and ethnicity in the face of Arabism. The research shows that the contradictions of Abū Nuwās are the artistic counterpart of Baghdad s contradictions in the second century AH. The research sheds light on a number of issues that have had a great impact on the life of Abū Nuwās, such as his birth to Persian parents, then his departure with his mother to Basra, and getting to know the poet Waleba Ibn Elhobab , then his departure to Kufa, then to Baghdad in his late twenties. I study the close relationship between the city of Baghdad and the poet, and how Abū Nuwās submerged himself in the pleasures and sins that were popular in the city at the time, such as drinking wine and courting boys. The research attempts to explain the orientation of Abū Nuwās towards heresy and ethnicity that were not ideological to him, but were a mere opportunity for him to stand out. The research also tries to explain Abū Nuwās yarn to boys and how it relates to his painful suffering because of his mother s shameful reputation. Finally the research stops at the symbolism of wine according to Abū Nuwās, and in the end I apply the social approach to reading a poem by Abū Nuwās in light of his biography.