In The Bath-House

                         by

                   Abu Nuwas


In the bath-house, the mysteries concealed by trousers
    Are revealed to you.
All becomes radiantly manifest.
    Feast your eyes without restraint!
You see handsome buttocks, shapely trim torsos,
    You hear the murmuring of pious formulas
           One lad to another:
       "God is Great!" "Praise be to God!"
Ah, what a palace of pleasure is the bath-house!
    Even when the towel-bearers come in
       And spoil the fun a bit.

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NOTES: Abu Nuwas lived in Baghdad c 1300, and was notorious for his poems praising the love of wine and the love of boys.

My former boyf asked me what the last two lines meant.  Well, when the towel-bearers come in (with their towels) all the gorgeous guys in the bath-house will wrap a towel around their middle, and quite definitely "spoil the fun a bit."

The moderators, in their infinite wisdom, will promptly decide that this has nothing at all to do with Gay Thailand, despite the obvious facts of Babylon and the other gay saunas.

Allah is great.