Between Pessimism, Wine, and Steel: What Schopenhauer, Abu Nuwas, and Antarah Taught Me About Life
The philosopher who saw endless pain. The poet who laughed at kings with a glass of wine. And the warrior who fought his way from slave to legend on pure ego. How three extreme men built my inner armor.
If u tell someone that a lonely German philosopher, a rebellious poet from Baghdad, and a desert warrior from pre-Islamic Arabia live inside the same head, they will tell you that you are crazy.
On one side, you have Arthur Schopenhauer. He lived alone in Germany with his dog. He was grumpy, avoided crowds, and wrote heavy books explaining that human existence is built on pain and endless wanting.
On the second side, you have Abu Nuwas. The wild poet of golden-age Baghdad who loved wine, mocked religious hypocrites, and refused to kiss the feet of kings.
And on the third side, you have Antarah ibn Shaddad. Born a slave, looked down upon by his own family, who built an ego so massive and untouchable that he carved his name into Arabian history with a spear.
They seem like three completely different species. But as I grew up, read their words, and faced the real world, I realized something powerful: they are the three survival tools every real thinker needs.
1. Schopenhauer: The Truth About Life
Most people live on comfortable lies. Society tells u: “Just finish school, get married, buy nice things, and you will be happy forever.”
Schopenhauer was the only one brave enough to call this nonsense.
He explained that human desire is an engine that never stops. When you want something you don't have, you suffer from wanting it. But the second you finally get it, the magic dies in five minutes. You get bored, and your brain immediately invents a new goal to chase. To Schopenhauer, life is a non-stop swing between pain and boredom.
Schopenhauer gives you the raw diagnosis: the world is not fair, people are driven by blind hunger, and pretending otherwise will only break your heart.
2. Abu Nuwas: The Art of Laughing at the Madness
If you only listen to Schopenhauer, you will become a miserable person who sits in a dark room hating the world. That is where Abu Nuwas walks in with a glass of wine.
People think Abu Nuwas was just a drunk guy who loved partying. They miss the entire point. In Baghdad, almost everyone lived a fake double life: politicians and judges stole by day and prayed loudly in public by night.
Abu Nuwas saw wine as the only honest thing left. It stripped people of their fake social masks. While others drank secretly in the dark and acted holy in public, Abu Nuwas held his glass in broad daylight.
دَعِ المَساجِدَ لِلعُبّادِ تَسكُنُها
وَطُف بِنا حَولَ خَمّارٍ لِيَسقينا
ما قالَ رَبُّكَ وَيلٌ لِلأُلى سَكِروا
بَل قالَ وَيلٌ لِلمُصَلّينا
“Leave the mosques for the worshippers to live in / and walk with us to the wine seller so he can pour for us / Your Lord did not say ‘Woe to those who drink’ / but He said ‘Woe to those who pray [without real heart]’.”
He threw the preachers' own scripture right back in their faces: showing off your prayers while lying to everyone is a hundred times worse than an honest man having a drink.
The Donkey Parade: You Cannot Shame a Free Man
Other court poets in Baghdad kissed the carpet in front of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid to stay safe and get gold. Abu Nuwas refused to behave.
To humiliate him, the Caliph ordered his guards to dress Abu Nuwas in ridiculous clothes, put him backward on a donkey, and march him through the crowded streets of Baghdad so people could laugh at him.
Any normal person would have cried from embarrassment. What did Abu Nuwas do? He smiled at the crowd, waved, and started making funny poems from the donkey's back, loudly thanking the Caliph for providing him with such a fine horse for his parade!
Abu Nuwas proved what Schopenhauer wrote about centuries later: you cannot humiliate someone who does not care about your fake social status.
3. Antarah ibn Shaddad: When the World Despises You, Build an Ego of Steel
Now, what do you do when knowing the truth (Schopenhauer) and laughing at the clowns (Abu Nuwas) is not enough? What do you do when the world puts its foot on your neck?
That is where Antarah enters the room.
Antarah was born with everything against him. His mother was an enslaved African woman, and in the racist desert society of Banu Abs, that meant he was born a slave. His own father, Shaddad, refused to recognize him as a son. He made him herd camels and sleep with the servants.
Antarah could have cried. He could have surrendered to bitterness. Instead, he built an ego so massive, so ferocious, that the entire Arabian peninsula had to respect him.
“Charge, Antarah!”
One day, enemy horsemen raided the tribe. The warriors of Banu Abs were panicking, losing, and running for their lives. His father ran to Antarah and screamed:
Look at Antarah's legendary pride. He did not jump to please his father. He stood there calmly and said:
His father, desperate and terrified, yelled: “Charge, and you are a free man!”
Antarah exploded into the battlefield like a thunderbolt. He single-handedly smashed the enemy army. He did not ask for freedom as a charity; he took his freedom with his own two hands.
لا تَسقِني ماءَ الحَياةِ بِذِلَّةٍ
بَل فَاِسقِني بِالعِزِّ كَأسَ الحَنظَلِ
ماءُ الحَياةِ بِذِلَّةٍ كَجَهَنَّمٍ
وَجَهَنَّمٌ بِالعِزِّ أَطيَبُ مَنزِلِ
“Do not give me the water of life in humiliation / instead, pour me with dignity the cup of bitter poison / For the water of life with humiliation is like hell / and hell with pride is the sweetest home.”
This is the ultimate formula for self-respect: if you have to lower your head to survive, that life is not worth living.
Pure Pride Without Greed
A lot of people have toxic egos: they brag, put others down, and chase money. Antarah was the exact opposite. His ego was built on genuine courage and honor:
يُخْبِرْكِ مَنْ شَهِدَ الوَقِيعَةَ أَنَّنِي
أَغْشَى الوَغَى وَأَعِفُّ عِنْدَ المَغْنَمِ
“Whoever was present in the battle will tell you that I throw myself into the hottest fire of war, yet I step back when it is time to divide the stolen loot.”
He fought at the very front where people die, but when the other fighters rushed greedily to take gold, clothes, and camels, Antarah walked away. He did not fight for things; he fought for his own dignity.
The Brutal Truth: People Only Need You When You Are Useful
This is perhaps the darkest, most relatable lesson from Antarah's life.
In times of peace, when the tribe was safe, eating meat, and celebrating, how did they treat Antarah? They pushed him to the back with the camels. They insulted him, reminded him of his skin color, and called him “the son of a slave woman.” When they did not need him, they had zero respect for him.
But the exact second war broke out—when enemy blades were inches from their throats and their lives were on the line—their tone changed completely. Suddenly they ran to him, crying: “O noble warrior! O hero! O son of honorable kings!”
Antarah captured this disgusting human hypocrisy in two immortal lines:
يُنَادُونَنِي فِي السِّلْمِ يَا ابْنَ زَبِيبَةٍ
وَعِنْدَ اصْطِدَامِ الخَيْلِ يَا ابْنَ الأَطَايِبِ
“In times of peace, they call me ‘the son of a slave woman’ / but when the warhorses clash, they call me ‘the son of noble blood’!”
A timeless slap across the face of human nature: people will ignore you, disrespect you, and treat you like nothing when you have nothing they want. But the second they need your strength, your brain, or your help, they suddenly remember how much they “respect” you.
Because Antarah knew how fake the crowd was, he did not look for love or validation from them. He knew that words are cheap and human loyalty disappears the moment convenience ends.
In a world full of fair-weather hypocrites, Antarah trusted only one thing: his own competence and his blade.
سَيْفِي كَانَ فِي الهَيْجَاءِ طَبِيبِي
يُدَاوِي رَأْسَ كُلِّ عَنِيدٍ
“In the heat of the battle, my sword was my only doctor / it cured the arrogance of every stubborn foe.”
When people are two-faced, your work, your skills, and your strength are the only things that will never lie to you.
4. The Trinity: How They Build My Mind
Look at how these three extreme men complete each other in everyday life:
He stops me from being naive. When people try to sell me sweet lies, when society tries to make me chase fake status symbols, Schopenhauer reminds me: see through the illusion, keep your expectations low, and protect your inner peace.
He stops me from becoming bitter. When life gets crazy and fake people try to look down on me, Abu Nuwas reminds me: smile at the clowns. You are on your donkey, and nobody can humiliate you if you refuse to take their games seriously.
He stops me from being weak. When the odds are against me, when people look down on where I started, Antarah reminds me: do not accept the water of life in humiliation. Stand up, work harder than everyone in the room, and take your respect through undeniable excellence.
The Takeaway
Life is too complicated to live by just one philosophy.
You need Schopenhauerso you don't get fooled. You need Abu Nuwasso you don't get bitter. And you need Antarah so you never let anyone break your dignity.
See the world with cold clarity, laugh in the face of the pompous, and when the battle comes, never drink from the cup of humiliation.