Exegesis of Sura al-Shuʿarāʾ

Question: What is the meaning of Allah’s words, “As for the poets, the deviant follow them … Do you not see that they wander aimlessly in every valley, and that they say what they do not do” (al-Shuʿarāʾ 26:224-226)? Who are the people described by these verses, and is the ruling confined to a particular period or does it remain in force until the Day of Resurrection?

Answer: Allah says, “As for the poets, the deviant follow them,” and so on to the end of the passage. He cited this in order to clear the Prophet ﷺ of the charges the polytheists had levelled against him. They had branded him a soothsayer, so Allah said, “It was not the devils who brought it down; it does not befit them, nor are they able” (26:210-211).

They also accused him of being a poet, whereupon the Almighty declared, “As for the poets, the deviant follow them.” Hence the Prophet ﷺ is not a poet; he is a prophet sent by Allah.

The phrase “As for the poets, the deviant follow them” is therefore a censure of poets, for their poetry usually contains vile lampoon, or lewdness and wantonness, or exaggerated and false praise. Most poetry is blameworthy; thus they say, “The sweetest of it is the biggest lie,” and it stems from the deeds of those who have gone astray.

Some have said that “the deviant” here means the devils, because the devils draw near to the poets, and every poet has a familiar from among the jinn.

In any event, the description is one of disparagement. Allah then mentioned a second trait of the poets: “Do you not see that they wander aimlessly in every valley,” meaning that poets compose on every contradictory theme—praise and blame, satire, frivolity, and so forth,