The testimony of poets

Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Poetry is (also) speech: its good part is like good speech and its bad part is like bad speech, except that it is speech which endures and spreads (among people), and that is its distinction (and excellence) over ordinary speech. So whoever among the poets is not known for disparaging the Muslims, harming them and doing so excessively, nor (known) for lying a great deal when he praises someone, his testimony will not be rejected."

Abd al-Rahman bin al-Aswad bin Abd Yaghuth (may Allah have mercy on him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Some poetry is full of wisdom."
(b) Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Some poetry is wisdom."

Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Some poetry is full of wisdom."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Some poetry is full of wisdom."

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The truest verse the Arabs ever said is: 'Indeed, everything besides Allah is false.'"

Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) adjured Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) by Allah, saying: Tell me! Did you hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Reply on my behalf; may Allah support you through Jibril Amin"? He said: Yes, yes.

Abu Salamah bin Abd al-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him) heard Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) asking Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) to bear witness: "I ask you by Allah, did you hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'O Hassan! Reply on my behalf; Allah will support you through Jibril Amin'?" Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Yes."

Sayyiduna al-Bara' bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him): "O Hassan! Satirize the disbelievers; Jibril is with you."
(b) The narration of Sulayman: "Satirize them, satirize them; Jibril is with you."

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that Sayyiduna Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Messenger of Allah! Give me permission concerning Abu Sufyan. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What then of my kinship with him?" Sayyiduna Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I will draw you out from among them just as a straw is drawn out of flour. Then he said: "From the family of Banu Hashim is the hump of nobility, and O children of the daughter of Makhzum, your father is a slave."

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Satirize Quraysh (with hija'), for it is harder on them than the shooting of arrows." He (peace and blessings be upon him) sent for Ibn Rawahah (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "Satirize them." He satirized them, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) was not satisfied. Then he sent for Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him). Then he sent for Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him). When Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) came, he said: Now the time has come for you; you have sent for the lion that lashes its tail. Then he stuck out his tongue and moved it about, and said: By the One who sent you (peace and blessings be upon him) with the truth! I will tear them apart as leather is torn. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Hassan! Do not be hasty, for Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) knows the lineages of Quraysh best, and since my lineage is also among them, (wait) until my lineage is separated (from theirs)." So Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and then went back. Then he came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! Your (peace and blessings be upon him) lineage has been made clear (to me). By the One who sent you (peace and blessings be upon him) with the truth! I will draw you (peace and blessings be upon him) out from them just as a hair is drawn out of flour. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying to Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him): "Jibril will continue to support you as long as you defend the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." She says: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "By satirizing them, Hassan brought relief to himself and to us." Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
1 You satirized Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), so I replied on his behalf,
and with Allah there is a reward for me in it, a recompense.
2 You disparaged Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), who is righteous and upright,
the Messenger of Allah; faithfulness is his blessed nature.
3 My father, my mother and my honour
are a sacrifice to protect the honour of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
4 May I lose my life if you do not see it:
it will raise the dust from both sides of Kada'.
5 Powerful she-camels straining at the reins and climbing up,
on their shoulders sharp-pointed spears thirsting for blood.
6 And our horses will come racing,
whose mouths the women wipe with their scarves.
7 If you turn away from us (and do not speak), we will perform Umrah,
and victory will come and the veil will be lifted.
8 Otherwise, be patient for the battle of that day
when Allah Almighty grants victory and honours whom He wills.
9 Allah Almighty says: I have sent a servant
who always speaks the truth; there is no doubt in his word.
10 Allah Almighty says: I have prepared an army,
it is the army of the Ansar, whose sport is to confront the disbelievers.
11 Every day we are in some preparation or other:
reviling the disbelievers, fighting or satirizing the disbelievers.
12 Whoever among you satirizes the Messenger of Allah,
and whoever praises him or helps him, they are all equal.
13 Jibril Amin is the messenger of Allah among us,
and the Holy Spirit, who has no equal.

Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I came to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her), and with her was Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), reciting verses which were verses of his youth. The verse:
She is composed and chaste, never accused of any suspicion;
she does not rise each morning hungry to eat the flesh of unsuspecting women.
Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: But you are not like that. Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I said to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): Why do you allow him to come to you, when Allah Almighty says: {And the one among them who took upon himself the greater part of it, for him is a great punishment} [Surah al-Nur: 11]? She said: What punishment is greater than blindness? And she said that he used to defend the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

Abd al-Rahman bin Ka'b bin Malik narrates from his father, Sayyiduna Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), that he said to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Allah has revealed concerning poetry what He has revealed. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The believer strives (in jihad) with his sword and his tongue. By the One in whose hand is my soul, it is as though you were showering them with arrows."

Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah bin Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyiduna Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when Allah Almighty revealed something concerning poetry, and said: You know what Allah Almighty has revealed concerning poetry; what is your view? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The believer strives (in jihad) with his sword and his tongue."

Sayyiduna Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in whose hand is my soul! With the poetry you say about them, it is as though you were showering them with arrows."

Ikrimah narrates from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that {And the poets: the misguided follow them} [Surah al-Shu'ara: 224] was abrogated by this: {Except those who believe, do righteous deeds and remember Allah much} [Surah al-Shu'ara: 227].

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), while narrating his stories, would mention the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "Your brother does not speak obscenity," meaning Abdullah bin Rawahah. The verses:
1 Among us is the Messenger of Allah, who recites His Book when the dawn of goodness breaks.
2 He guided us after blindness, and our hearts are certain of it: what he has said is bound to happen.
3 He spends the night with his sides apart from the bed, at the time when the sides of the disbelievers are heavy upon their beds, that is, clinging to them.

Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about poetry, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is speech: good poetry is good speech and bad poetry is bad speech."
A group reported it with a connected chain (mawsul), but the correct version from him is mursal from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) was asked: Did the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) cite anything from poetry as an example? She said: Sometimes he (peace and blessings be upon him) would say: "Soon the one whom you did not even give provisions will bring you the news."

Al-A'sha al-Mazini (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and recited verses:
O Lord of the people and judge of the Arabs!
I have met a sharp-tongued person;
I was seeking provision in a state of alarm and distress.
The narration of al-Karabisi: I went out seeking provision, and she pursued me with spears; she broke the promise and was steeped in sin. They are the worst evil for whoever they overpower. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), citing it as an example, said: "They are the worst evil for whoever they overpower."

Sayyiduna A'sha bin Ma'iz (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting verses. He mentioned (the same), except that he said: I married a sharp-tongued woman; I went out seeking her, and she defied me with quarrelling and running away; but he did not mention the fifth verse.

Simak (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him): I asked: Did you see the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) used to remain silent for long, and his (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions would recite poetry and talk about the Jahiliyyah in his presence and laugh, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) would only smile when they laughed.

Simak (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I said to Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him): Did you use to sit with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Yes. He (peace and blessings be upon him) used to remain silent for long and laughed little. His (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions would recite poetry, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) would smile.

Al-Sha'bi (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I saw the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting poetry near the House of Allah, when they were around the House in the state of ihram (the narrator Ibrahim was in doubt).

Muhammad bin Kathir bin Aflah says: When we had our last gathering with Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him), we were reciting poetry in it.

Abu Khalid al-Walibi says: We used to sit in the gatherings of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), and they would recite poetry and talk about the days of the Jahiliyyah.

Mutarrif bin Abdullah (may Allah have mercy on him) says: I accompanied Imran bin Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him) while travelling from Basrah to Makkah. Every day he would recite poetry to me, and he would say: Poetry is speech, and speech can be true and it can be false.

Muhammad bin Sirin (may Allah have mercy on him) says: Among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), Abdullah bin Rawahah (may Allah be pleased with him), Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) and Ka'b bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) were poets.

Ikrimah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): When you recite the Qur'an and cannot find out its explanation, then look for it in poetry, for it is the literature of the Arabs.
This is the correct version: mawquf (a statement of the Companion).

Ikrimah narrates from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Some poetry is full of wisdom. When something of the Qur'an becomes confusing to you, look for it in poetry, for it is Arabic."
The first wording has also been narrated from Simak by narrators other than Isra'il; as for the second wording, it may be a statement of Ibn Abbas that has been inserted (mudraj) into the hadith.