Book by Abu Nawas: Abu Nawas was a classical Arabic poet. Born in the city of Ahvaz, in modern-day Iran, to an Arab father and a Persian mother, he became a master of all the contemporary genres of Arabic poetry. He also entered the folkloric tradition, appearing several times in One Thousand and One Nights. Because he frequently indulged in drunken exploits, Nuwas was imprisoned during the reign of Al-Amin, shortly before his death. While his works were in circulation freely until the early years of the twentieth century, the first modern censored edition of his works was published in Cairo in 1932. In January 2001, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture ordered the burning of some 6,000 copies of books of Nuwas's homoerotic poetry. In the Saudi Global Arabic Encyclopedia entry for Abu Nuwas, all mentions of pederasty (relation between adult man and adolescent boy) were omitted.