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Abu Nuwas

(Encyclopedia)Abu Nuwas äˈbo͞o no͞owäsˈ [key], c.750–c.810, Arab poet, b. Ahvaz, Persia. He spent most of his life in Baghdad. High in favor with the caliphs Harun ar-Rashid and Amin, he lived a courtier's ...

Abu Dhabi

(Encyclopedia)Abu Dhabi äˈbo͞o ᵺäˈbē, zä–, dä– [key], Arab. Abu Zabi, sheikhdom, c.26,000 sq mi (67,300 sq km), part of the federation of seven United Arab Emirate...

Abu Musa

(Encyclopedia)Abu Musa, island (2010 est. pop. 1,868), c. 4.6 sq mi (12 sq km), E Persian Gulf, disputed between Iran, who occupies it, and the United Arab Emirates. Strategically located near the entra...

Abu Ghraib

(Encyclopedia)Abu Ghraib or Abu Ghurayb äˈbo͞o grĕb [key], infamous prison located in the town of Abu Ghraib, c.20 mi (32 km) W of Baghdad, Iraq. Built by British contractors in the 1960s, it occupies c.280 acr...

Abu Muslim

(Encyclopedia)Abu Muslim äˈbo͞o mo͝osˈlĭm [key], c.728–755, Persian leader of the Abbasid revolution. By political and religious agitation he raised (747) the black banners of the Abbasids against the rulin...

Abu Bakr

(Encyclopedia)Abu Bakr äˈbo͞o bäkˈər [key], 573–634, 1st caliph, friend, father-in-law, and successor of Muhammad. He was probably Muhammad's first convert outside the Prophet's family and alone accompanied...

Abu Hanifa

(Encyclopedia)Abu Hanifa äbo͞oˈ hänēˈfä [key], 699–767, Muslim jurist. He founded the Hanafite system of Islamic jurisprudence, which gives the judge considerable discretion when the Qur'an and the Sunna (...

Abu Qir

(Encyclopedia)Abu Qir or Abukir both: ăˌbo͞okērˈ, əbo͞oˈkər [key], village, N Egypt, on a promontory in the Nile River delta. Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory over the French fleet off Abu Qir on Aug. 1–...

Abu-Simbel

(Encyclopedia)Abu-Simbel ĭpˈsämbo͞olˈ [key], village, S Egypt, on the Nile River. Its two temples were hewn (c.1250 b.c.) out of rock cliffs during the reign of Ramses II. To avoid the rising waters caused by ...

Abu al-Fida

(Encyclopedia)Abu al-Fida äˌbo͞o äl-fēˈdä, –fĭdäˈ [key], 1273–1331, Arab historian, b. Damascus. He fought against the Christians in the last period of the Crusades and later became (1310) governor of...

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