Thereupon ʿAbd al-Wāḥid said to him, “Stand away from me, you reprobate! I shall not narrate to you, nor to any of these men on your account.” When this reached Mālik ibn Anas and Ibrāhīm ibn Abī Yahyā, they remarked, “He should have narrated to him; perhaps Allah might reform him.”

I say: The very statement Abu Nuwas versified has been transmitted by Ibn ʿAdiyy in his al-Kāmil, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, both as a mawqūf and as a marfūʿ report: “Whoever falls in love, remains chaste, conceals it, and dies, dies a martyr.” (1)

Its meaning is that if someone is tried with passionate love without choosing it, yet shows patience, refrains from fornication, keeps the matter hidden, and then dies because of that struggle, he will attain great reward; should the report be authentic, that reward is a form of martyrdom. And Allah knows best.

Al-Khaṭīb also relates (2) that Shuʿbah met Abu Nuwas and said to him, “Give us something of your curiosities.” So he improvised (3):

“Khabّāf narrated to us from Wāʾil,
and Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ from Jābir;
Misʿar from some of his companions—
the shaykh raises it up to ʿĀmir.

They all declared:
‘Whichever maiden (4)
is attached to a man of pure character,
keeps in touch and remains with him
in the constancy of one who guards and remembers,
for him the Garden stands open;
he roams within its radiant meadows.

But any beloved who deserts a lover
after a bond once fresh and lasting,
far from the mercy of Allah is he—
yes, banished to abiding wretchedness.’”

Shuʿbah said to him, “You possess fine manners, and I have good hopes for you.”

Abu Nuwas also recited:

“O magician of eyes and graceful neck,
you who slay me with promises!
You pledge me union, then break it;
never do you keep for me a single tryst.” (5)