The Holy Qur'an does not comment on poetry in general. It has dealt with the issue with particular reference to the charges labeled against the Prophet (sws) by his adversaries. These comments should be seen in this orientation alone since they are prompted by a special condition and are concerned particularly with the poets of Arabia and their characters, at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an.
When the Quraish noticed the deep affect of the Holy Qur'an on the hearts of the people, they sought refuge in making false allegations against the Prophet (pbuh). They maintained that the reason why Qur'an attracted people was not that it was revealed by God but because the Prophet (sws) possessed such a strong eloquent expression as their poets did. He had a charm in his expression as these poets had which appealed others. They held that the right placement for the Prophet (sws) would be the place of a great poet. There was no reason of placing him among the prophets of God. Moreover, the Arabs commonly believed that a Jinn accompanies every poet and reveals eloquent expressions to him. Thus, they tried to make people believe that the claim of the Prophet (sws) to be appointed from God and being granted pieces of revelation was not true. It was only a jinn or Satan with him like other great poets who revealed eloquent 'poetic' verses to him. The Holy Qur'an negated this allegation and substantiated its claim by citing the difference between poets and the prophets and thus mentioned its observation in this regards.
The Qur'an substantiates its assertion and counters the allegation by pointing to the fact that the poets live in a totally different world as compared to the prophets of God. A picture of them and their followers and an analysis of their poetry and its purpose will establish the difference between the two.
There is a vivid difference in the objectives of the message as well as in the characters and personalities of prophets and poets. It describes three measures to differentiate the poets from the messengers by portraying only poets and leaves the reader to decide for himself whether their poetry can be compared with the Magnificent Qur'an presented by the messenger. Let us look into the verses occurring in Surah Al-Shu`araa in this regard.
And those who are strayed follow the poets. Did you not notice that they wander everywhere? And they say what they practice not. Except for those who believed and did good acts and much remembered God. (26:224-227)
According to these verses the first yardstick is that the poets are commonly followed by those who are evils. What kind of people were attracted to their poetry? If seen with unbiased eyes it becomes clear that the companions of the poets are those who love evil, are transgressors, voluptuous, and have a bad character. On the contrary the Qur'an attracted those who are pious, righteous, and noble. The notable point is that the poets occupied a very important position among Arabs. Whenever they set fire to the passions, the common folk would follow them without ascertaining the consequences of such following. A look into the poetry done by Imra' al-qais will suffice to ascertain the true nature of the message entailed in the works of such poets as well as its affects on the human hearts and mind. Obviously those who love to indulge in these evils would follow the poets of such characters.
The second point that the Holy Quran mentions is that these poets poke their noses in every matter that comes to their mind. They indulge in all kinds of topics and issues. In other words, they generally do not have any specific purpose before them. Whatever ideas surge into their minds they would express in the best possible style according to their abilities, regardless of whether the matter in question was satanic or godly spiritual or material etc. And irrespective of whether their works would incite upon good or evil? If one reads a few poetic verses from the works of these poets, one can easily see that one verse leads to good while the other incites satanic passions. People took to them only because of their eloquent expressions. And because man is easily lured into being attracted towards most evil things, therefore people loved these poets and held them in great esteem. If any good is packed in these poet verses that is suffocated by the overpowering evil filled in them. On the contrary, study the Qur'anic verses. These speak of a single purpose. Each and every verse fits in that. There is no contradiction in its contents. Qur'an has established the truthfulness of its specified purpose in such sound arguments that it is not possible to refute it except for a stubborn adversary.
The third point according to the referred verse is that the poets say things which they themselves do not act upon. The poets depict themselves in their poetry as heroes in their activities but in fact they did not possess such qualities. On the contrary the messengers of God were themselves the epitome of the ideals entailed in their teachings. They were the first to fear and worship God. The devotion and sacrifice they invite towards, is present in their personalities in its ultimate form. Even their worst enemies cannot point towards any of their acts which is contrary to their teachings.
Finally, the Qur'an, alluding to the believing poets who spread the word of God in their poetry, has made them an exception. Though these poets did not constitute the majority of the more well known poets in the prevalent environment, yet the Qur'an has acknowledged their fear of God and strict observance of righteousness.
Now take the question of the relationship between the poets and the soothsayers during the times.
It is known that the Arabs attached a lot of importance to the poets and soothsayer. They believed that Satan jinn accompany every big poet. According to their beliefs, these Jinn revealed to the poets ideas and eloquent expressions. The satan accompanying the great poet A`shaa was allegedly named "ãÓÍá" (maskhal) and the one accompanying Mukhabbal was "ÚãÑæ"('Amr)[1]. The reason of this deep relationship between the two is discussed by Ahmad Hassan Ziat in his book History of Arabic language and literature under the chapter regarding birth and development of Arabic poetry. He writes: Musajjah (rhymes) prose is the first form of poetry. The soothsayers used to pray before the gods, record the wise sayings in this style and give response to people in riddles to bewilder the audience. Like Roman soothsayers they were the first to do poetry. They claimed inspiration from and communication with the gods. They used to offer their supplications before these deities in rhymed prose and sought revelation of information. Then they used to present the information which they allegedly received from those deities before people in rhymed prose and named it Saja` (lit: rhymed expression). This Saja` was a form of discourse which later developed into poetry.
This probably led the Arabs to form the belief of jinn accompanying every great poet. This provided the Quraish an opportunity to claim that Prophet (sws) is not truthful in his claim that he receives revelations form God. The Prophet (sws) is a soothsayers and a poet. He fabricates pieces of literature supported by some Jinn and Satans who reveal to him such inspirations. Perhaps the most comprehensive and detailed discussion in this regard occurs in Surah Al-Shu`araa (No:24) the Quran negates this allegation and tells that:
Satans did not reveal anything to the Prophet (sws) - neither does it suit them nor can they do so. For they cannot hear (from the heavens) (26:210-212)
The words 'neither does it suit them' implies that the Satan would not do something against his own mission. This is the same kind of argument, as was adopted by Jesus Christ (pbuh) in response to the Pharisees. According to the Gospel of Luke:
He was driving out a devil from a dumb man. When the devil had come out, the dumb man began to speak. The people were astonished, but some of them said, "it is by Beelzeub prince of devils that he drives the devils out.' Others, by way of test, demanded of him a sign from heaven. But he knew what was in their minds, and said, 'every kingdom divided against itself goes to ruin, and a divided household falls. Equally if Satan is divided against himself how can his kingdom stand? (Luke 11: 14 - 18)
The second point is that they could not produce such a discourse. It has been repeatedly challenged to the Quraish and their allies to produce even a Surah or more like the miraculous Qur'an. They weren't able to meet this challenge and hence the words "nor can they do so".
The third point that the Holy Quran asserts is that the satans did not have any access to the throne of the Almighty. Qur'an has said in more than one place that during the days the Qur'an was revealed there was strict surveillance on the heavens that any jinn or Satan who tried to overhear the matter decided in the heavens found shooting stars following them. Hence the Qur'an says that the Jinn are deprived of their hearing from the heavens.
After some verses the Qur'an depicts some of the despicable characteristics of those on whom jinn reveal their sayings. It says:
Let me tell you on whom do the Satans come down. These come to inveterate liars and sinful people to reveal upon them. And most of these (soothsayers) are liars. (221 - 223)
These don't come to the people like the Prophet (sws) these reveal to the soothsayers who present that revealed items to be from God. These people are those who indulge in exaggeration and untruthfulness. Those who eagerly heed to these Satan and jinns are often liars. Thus the soothsayers revered by the Quraish are portrayed. The Qur'an has exposed their attributes. The first attribute according to the Qur'an is there being 'affak' (habitual liars). They fool the simple folk by concocting exciting stories about their receiving messages from the jinns etc. Their second attribute is "'Aseem" (sinful). It means that they indulge in all kinds of moral sins. This is a depiction of their style of presenting their so-called experience. They used to pretend doing some meditation to profess that they receive it from jinns and present their false ideas in poetic expressions and would tell others that they have received it from such and such jinn. They used to sit in meditation as they are concentrating on an unseen source, which reveals to them information about the unseen. This kind of meditation has been common among all polytheistic nations.
Now the Holy Qur'an comments, "and most of them are liars". Some of these soothsayers were true in the sense that they really received something from jins but most of them were liars. They did not even have such satanic experience as was portrayed by them to their followers and 'customers'.
I hope this helps
Tariq Mahmood Hashmi
