TALES OF ABUNUWAS

Abunuwas (or Abu Nawas) tales are loved by young and old readers alike throughout the world and on the East African coast which has had centuries old contacts with Arab traders and Islamic scholars. Hadithi za Abunuwasi have become an integral part of Swahili literature. Abu Nawas, the nickname of their author, lived in Baghdad, Iraq, during the reign of Harun Al Rashid (763-809) and was considered the most accomplished Arab poet of his age. His tales spread far and wide in the Arab countries around the Mediterranean Sea but also in Turkey, Uzbekistan and beyond. Many of the tales appear also in the classic One Thousand and One Nights in which Harun Al Rashid is at the centre as the wise and just Sultan.