is not infallible; nevertheless, we most emphatically reject attributing forgetfulness to him—or rather, lying—merely on the basis of assertion and ill opinion of him. This case before us is an example. If, as we have said, it were possible that Abu Hurayrah had not retained that alleged addition, could it also be possible that all those Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had likewise not retained it?
Moreover, the context of this hadith itself indicates that addition to be invalid in meaning, for it does not condemn poetry categorically, but only excessive preoccupation with it. If that is so, then the statement, “I was satirized by it,” implies that a small amount of poetry in which he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is satirized is permissible. This is false, and whatever entails something false is itself false.
It says in Fayd al-Qadir:
“Al-Nawawi said: This hadith concerns devoting oneself exclusively to poetry, such that it becomes predominant and distracts one from the Quran and remembrance of Allah. Al-Qurtubi said: When poetry becomes predominant over someone, the blameworthy traits customarily associated with it inevitably attach to him; this is how the hadith is to be understood. As for the statement of some that it refers to poetry in which he or someone else was satirized, this is refuted by the fact that satirizing him is disbelief, whether much or little, while satirizing someone else is forbidden even if little. Thus, there is no sense in restricting the condemnation to an abundance of it.”
What he mentioned concerning the prohibition is the very meaning al-Bukhari expressed in the chapter heading he gave this hadith in his Sahih: “Chapter: What is disliked regarding poetry becoming predominant over a person, to the point that it turns him away from the remembrance of Allah.”
Imam Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam preceded him in this, saying, after citing the aforementioned view of some:
“In my view, this hadith means something other than what they have said. For poetry in which the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was satirized—even if it were half a line—would constitute disbelief. Thus, to interpret the hadith as referring to the heart being filled with such poetry would, in effect, permit a small amount of it. Rather, in my view, its meaning is that one’s heart becomes so filled with poetry that it predominates over him and distracts him from the Quran and from the remembrance of Allah, becoming his prevailing occupation. But if the Quran and knowledge are predominant over him, then his inner self is not filled with it.”