Books by Colville

First Published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

First Published in 2001. These extremely entertaining shorter pieces by the leader of Islamic literary culture aim to instruct us on matters of moral and social concern. They cover such uses as Chanteuses, The Pleasure of Girls and Boys, This Life and the Life to come, Drink and Drinkers, Envy, and the Superiority of the Front to the Back. Always taking a moral tone, Jahiz seldom fails to lighten with humour and wit.

One of the greatest of Arabic poets - indeed, the greatest in the opinion of some critics - Abu Nuwas wrote accomplished verse that demonstrated his technical mastery of all the major genres. This work offers a glimpse of the hedonistic and dissipated world he inhabited: the world of Baghdad high society at the zenith of the Abbasid caliphate.