Note 252 — CALIPH AL-MAAMUN AND THE STRANGE SCHOLAR
Richard Francis Burton translation
Arab. “Ráh” = pure (and old) wine. Arabs, like our classics, usually drank their wine tempered. So Imr al-Kays in his Mu’allakah says, “Bring the well-tempered wine, that seems to be saffron-tinctured; and, when water-mixed, o’erbrims the cup.” (v. 2).