Poetry

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: "The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would (sometimes) recite this half-verse of poetry by way of example: 'Wa ya'tika bil-akhbari man lam tuzawwidi' (And the news will be brought to you by one whom you did not provide with provisions (or payment))."
Imam al-Bazzar narrated it through the route of Abu Usamah and said that the narrator Za'idah is alone in transmitting this report (from Simak), while other narrators narrated it through Simak, from Ikrimah, from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) affirmed the verses of Umayyah bin Abi al-Salt. He said (describing the attributes of the angels who carry the Throne): "One is in the form of a man, and one is a bull which is beneath his right foot, while on the side of the other foot is an eagle, and a lion lying in wait." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He spoke the truth." Then he said (mentioning the rising of the sun): "And the sun rises at the end of every night tinged with red, and as morning comes its colour turns rosy; it refuses (to come out) and does not appear to us of its own ease unless it is rebuked (by the angels) or it is lashed." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He spoke the truth."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated this hadith, and in its chain Muhammad bin Ishaq has stated explicitly that he heard it, on account of which this report reaches the level of hasan (good).

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said (mentioning the famous poet Labid bin Rabi'ah): May Allah Almighty have mercy on Labid ('Rahimallahu Labidan'), for he said:
"Gone are those noble and dignified people in whose shade and protection life was lived pleasantly, and now I am left behind among unworthy successors who are (in ugliness and contemptibility) like the skin of one afflicted with mange." (The narrator of the hadith, Hisham bin Urwah, says:) Then my father (Urwah bin al-Zubayr) would pray: May Allah Almighty send down His mercy upon Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) ('Rahimallahu A'ishah, radiyallahu anha'); what would her state have been had she seen this (corrupt) time of ours (that is, how greatly she would have disliked it)?

A man of the tribe of Hudhayl narrates from his father that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, this poetry is a highly eloquent, rhetorical and profound part of the speech of the Arabs; through it the one who asks is given (wealth and goods), through it anger is swallowed, and by means of it people attain (their high standing and aims) in their gatherings."
This hadith is weak because one narrator in its chain is unnamed; Imam al-Tabarani recorded it in "al-Mu'jam al-Kabir" (1301).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted permission for the poetry of the Age of Ignorance (to be recited and listened to), except for the ode of Umayyah bin Abi al-Salt which he composed about the people of Badr (the idolaters), and the ode of al-A'sha in which he mentioned Amir and Alqamah."
Takhrij and grading: Imam Abu Ya'la narrated this report in his Musnad (hadith: 2601); its chain contains a narrator named Abu Bakr al-Hudhali, who is weak and matruk al-hadith (abandoned in hadith), so this report is weak in its chain.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "That the inside (belly) of one of you be filled with pus or blood is far better for him than that it be filled with poetry in which I have been satirised (condemned and reviled)."
The chain of this hadith is jayyid (good), and the words mentioned in it, 'hujitu bihi' (in which I have been satirised), restrict this warning specifically to those verses in which disrespect or satire has been directed at the noble status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); and this meaning is exactly in keeping with the eloquence of the Prophetic speech in this place.

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about the legal status of poetry, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Poetry too is speech (like other forms of expression); so poetry that is fine, constructive and based on good is (also legally) commendable, and poetry that is obscene, frivolous and based on evil is (also legally) disliked and bad."
[Takhrij: Sunan al-Daraqutni: 4337, al-Adab al-Mufrad of al-Bukhari: 865; Allamah al-Albani declared this hadith sahih (authentic).]

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Imru' al-Qays (the renowned poet of the Age of Ignorance) will be the standard-bearer of the poets heading towards Hell, carrying their banner."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated it in his Musnad, and Imam Ahmad also recorded it; however, the hadith scholars have criticised it because of the isolated transmission and weakness of a narrator in its chain named Abu al-Jahm al-Wasiti, and Allamah al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) declared this hadith weak.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Barzah al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey when he (peace and blessings be upon him) heard two men singing, one of whom was reciting verses to his companion. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who are these two?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) was told that they were so-and-so and so-and-so. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), invoking against them, said: "'Arkasahumallahu ta'ala fil-fitnati raksan, wa du''ahuma ilan-nari da''an' (May Allah Almighty turn them both completely upside down into tribulation and thrust them violently into the Fire of Hell)."
In the narration of Imam Abu Bakr it is reported that Sayyiduna Abu Barzah al-Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the people were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when they heard the sound of singing and turned towards it. A man got up and listened attentively, and this incident was before the prohibition of wine was revealed. That man went to them and then came back and said that these were so-and-so and so-and-so, who were singing, one answering the other, and he was reciting these verses: "Those slave-girls of mine whose bones do not show (through thinness), and war kept him from going mad and ending up in the grave." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised both his blessed hands and said: "'Arkasahumallahu fil-fitnah, Allahumma du''ahuma ilan-nar' (May Allah turn them both upside down into tribulation; O Allah, thrust them both violently into the Fire)."