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If thou forbid me to pass thy door, yet from afar To greet thee and to bless, at least, I shall be free. The Khalif bade her ply Abou Nuwas with wine, till he lost his wits; when he gave him a full cup, and he drank a draught of it and held the cup in his hand. Er Reshid bade the girl take the cup from him and conceal it; so she took it and hid it between her thighs.
Then the boy doffed the red tunic and abode in the black; whereupon Abou Nuwas redoubled in attention to him and repeated the following verses: He came in a tunic all sable of hue And shone out, thus veiled in the dark, to men's view. "Thou passest," quoth I, "without greeting, and thus Givest cause to exult to the rancorous crew.
'I do, replied the Khalif. 'Then, O Commander of the Faithful, rejoined Abou Nuwas, 'hast thou any suit to prefer to me? At this the Khalif was wroth and turned away and left them, full of rage, and passed the night, sore angered against Abou Nuwas, whilst the latter spent the merriest and most easeful of nights, till the day dawned and the morning-star appeared and shone, when he broke up the sitting and dismissing the boys, donned his court- dress and set out for the Khalif's palace.
Abou Nuwas one day shut himself up and making ready a richly- furnished saloon, set out therein a banquet of meats of all kinds and colours that lips and tongue can desire.
Moreover, I have made my peace with my father-in- law and my wife is confirmed to me; so praised be God for this! Presently the Khalif rose to do an occasion; whereupon Jaafer turned to Alaeddin and said to him, 'Look to thy manners, for thou art in the presence of the Commander of the Faithful. 'How have I failed in good breeding before the Commander of the Faithful, asked he, 'and which of you is he? Quoth Jaafer, 'He who went out but now is the Commander of the Faithful and I am the Vizier Jaafer: this is Mesrour the headsman, and this other is Abou Nuwas ben Hani.
Now, without doubt, the subject of comparison is more worthy than the object compared with it; so, except women be the worthier and the goodlier, wherefore should other than they be likened to them? Quoth their chief Abou Nuwas: A slender one, boyish of waist and of wit, For wencher as well as for sodomite fit.
And what another poet says: Quoth th' Iman Abou Nuwas, past-master sure was he In every canon of debauch and jolly knavery, "O ye that love the downy cheeks of younglings, take your fill Of a delight, in Paradise that will not founden be."
They sat down and ate and drank and made merry awhile, after which they appealed to Abou Nuwas to decide which was the handsomest and most shapely of them. So he pointed to one of them, after having kissed him twice, and recited the following verses: With my life I will ransom the mole, on the cheek of the loveling that is; For how should I ransom it else with treasure or aught but my soul?
Next morning, he repaired to his sitting-room and called for Abou Nuwas, but found him not and sent his chamberlain to seek for him. The chamberlain found him in pawn, in a tavern, for a score of a thousand dirhems, that he had spent on a certain boy, and questioned him.
Just then, Jaafer the Barmecide, who had been absent on an important business for the Khalif, entered and seeing the poet in this plight, said to him, 'Hallo, Abou Nuwas! 'At thy service, O our lord, answered he. A certain man of Bassora once bought a slave-girl and reared and educated her excellent well.
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