Three Great Abbasid Poets: Abu Nuwas, al-Mutanabbi & al-Ma'arri, Lives & Poems

THREE GREAT ABBASID POETS Abu Nuwas, al-Mutanabbi & al-Ma'arri Lives & Poems Translation & Introduction Paul Smith The Abbasid Caliphate that ruled the Islamic world was the golden age of Islamic culture. It ruled from 750 to 1258 AD, making it one of the longest and most influential of the Islamic dynasties. For most of its early history it was the largest empire in the world and this meant that it had contact with distant neighbors such as the Chinese and Indians in the East and the Byzan...