Abdal Karim al Qushayri (986 – 1072 CE) was an influential scholar and Sufi in the region of Nishapur. There have been several references to divine wine in Inner Call posts, including, among others, a poem by Maghribi and this letter to mureeds. Within the imagery of the tavern, Sufi poetry often praises the cup-bearer or Saqi – the One who offers us ecstasy.

The round of a cup
          has made the people drunk
but my drunkenness is in
          the one who passes the cup around.

English version Michael A. Sells