Surah Yaseen (36) — Ayah 69

(Ayah 69) ➊ { وَ مَا عَلَّمْنٰهُ االشِّعْرَ وَ مَا يَنْۢبَغِيْ لَهٗ :} Its relevance to the previous verses is that the disbelievers tried to dismiss the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) regarding monotheism, the Hereafter, life after death, and Paradise and Hell as mere poetry, considering them insignificant in their opinion. This is a refutation of their accusation. That is, the status of prophethood and messengership upon which you (peace be upon him) are established has no relation to poetry. The beauty and excellence of poetry lie in falsehood, exaggeration, imaginative flights, and hypothetical subtleties, whereas the dignity of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is far above these things. Allah Almighty made your (peace be upon him) nature such that, despite being from the family of Abdul Muttalib, every member of which was naturally a poet, you did not compose any poetry throughout your life. If, on occasions such as war, any rhymed expression happened to come from his blessed tongue that resembled the meter of poetry, that is a different matter; it cannot be called poetry. For a detailed discussion on poetry and poets, see the commentary of Surah Ash-Shu'ara, verses (224 to 227).
➋ Those who call the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) {’’عَالِمُ مَا كَانَ وَمَا يَكُوْنُ ‘‘} should reflect on the words of { ’’ وَ مَا عَلَّمْنٰهُ الشِّعْرَ ‘‘}.
➌ { اِنْ هُوَ اِلَّا ذِكْرٌ وَّ قُرْاٰنٌ مُّبِيْنٌ :} That is, this is an admonition and reminder and a clear, recited heavenly Book.

69. 1. The polytheists of Makkah used to say various things to deny the Prophet ﷺ. Among these was also the claim that you are a poet and this Qur'an is merely your poetic composition. Allah Almighty has refuted this. You are neither a poet nor is the Qur'an a collection of poetic speech, rather it is only advice and admonition. In poetry, generally, there is exaggeration, excess and deficiency, and mere novelty of imagination, thus its foundation is on falsehood. Moreover, poets are merely warriors of speech, not of character. Therefore, Allah Almighty said that not only did We not teach Our Prophet poetry, nor did We reveal poetry to him, but We made his temperament and nature such that he has no affinity with poetry at all. This is why, whenever he ﷺ would recite someone’s poetry, he would often not recite it correctly and its meter would break. Examples of this are present in the ahadith. This precaution was taken so that the argument would be completed against the deniers and their doubts would be eliminated, and so that they could not say that this Qur'an is the result of poetic composition, just as his being unlettered was also to remove doubts so that people could not say about the Qur'an that he learned it from someone and then compiled it. However, on some occasions, such words would come from his blessed tongue that would be like two verses and would also match poetic meters and rhythms, but this cannot be proof of your being a poet. Because this happened without your intention and their falling into poetic form was a coincidence, just as on the day of Hunayn, these rajaz verses spontaneously came from your tongue: انا النبی لا کذب۔ انا ابن عبد المطلب On another occasion, his ﷺ finger was injured, so he ﷺ said: ھل أنت الا اصبع دمیت۔ وفی سبیل اللہ ما لقیت

69. We did not teach this Prophet poetry [61], nor is it fitting [62] for him. This is only a reminder and a clear, recited Book.

[61] Poetry is not suitable for you because, in the speech of poets, unless there is an admixture of falsehood and exaggeration, their speech does not acquire beauty or charm, nor does anyone appreciate their verses. Furthermore, no matter how lofty their imaginations may be, they have no connection with practical life. This is why the practical lives of poets are generally contrary to their words, and the third reason is that there is no determined path for their way of thinking; rather, they are seen rambling in every field like an unbridled horse. If there is anything desirable in poetry, it is its effect and appeal, and this quality is found in the Quran to the highest degree, even though it is in prose. In other words, whatever was useful or the spirit of poetry is fully present in the Quran, and perhaps this is the reason why the Arabs, who prided themselves on their eloquence and rhetoric—and for this reason called non-Arabs "Ajamis"—began to call the Quran poetry or magic, and its bearer a poet or magician. Otherwise, the truth is that poetry and magic have no relation to the Quran. Has it ever happened that, on the basis of poetry or magic, such a magnificent and everlasting edifice of nationhood and spirituality could be erected in the world as was established on the foundation of Quranic teachings and remains established to this day?

Your Breaking of Meter When Reciting Poetry:

Allah Almighty created your ﷺ nature in such a way that you ﷺ could not compose poetry in meter, and if you ever recited a verse of another poet, you would break its meter. Thus, Sayyiduna Rafi‘ bin Khadij ؓ says that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, from the spoils of the Battle of Hawazin, gave Abu Sufyan bin Harb, Safwan bin Umayyah, ‘Uyainah bin Hisn, and Aqra‘ bin Habis one hundred camels each, and gave ‘Abbas bin Mirdas (Ansari) somewhat less, so he composed a few verses, the first of which was:
﴿اتجعل نهبي و نهب العبيد﴾
﴿بين العيينه والاقرع﴾
(that is, are you ﷺ giving my and my horse ‘Ubayd’s share to ‘Uyainah and Aqra‘?)
When this complaint reached you ﷺ, you gathered only the Ansar under a tent, then asked them, "Who among you has said this verse?" And when you recited the above verse, you recited it as:
﴿اتجعل نهبي ونهب العبيد﴾
﴿بين الاقرع والعيينة﴾
That is, you ﷺ broke the meter of the second hemistich. Upon hearing this, a Companion remarked, "Allah Almighty has spoken the truth:"
﴿وَمَا عَلَّمْنٰهُ الشِّعْرَ وَمَا يَنْبَغِيْ لَه﴾ [مسلم۔ کتاب الجہاد وا لسیر۔ باب فتح مکۃ عن ابی ہریرہ]
In your entire life, you ﷺ spoke only two or three verses, which, if called rhythmic speech instead of poetry, would be more appropriate. In reality, they were pieces of prose that spontaneously became rhythmic, and they are as follows:
1.
The Verses of the Prophet ﷺ:

Sayyiduna Jundub bin ‘Abdullah Bajali relates that once during jihad, you ﷺ stumbled, causing your toe to bleed. At that time, addressing your toe, you ﷺ recited this verse:
﴿هَلْ أنْتِ اِلَّا اِصْبَعٌ دَمِيْتِ﴾
﴿وَ فِي سَبِيْلِ اللّٰه مَا لَقِيْتِ﴾
"You are but a toe that has become bloodied. If you have been wounded in the path of Allah, then what of it?" [بخاری کتاب الادب۔ باب مایجوز من الشعر]
2. During the Battle of Hunayn, there came a moment when many Companions fled the battlefield. At that time, you were riding a white mule, advancing with great zeal toward the enemy, and simultaneously reciting this verse:
﴿اَنَا النَّبِيُّ لَاكَذِبْ﴾
﴿اَنَا ابْنُ عَبْدِ الْمُطَّلِبْ﴾
"There is no falsehood in it: I am a Prophet. I am the son of ‘Abdul Muttalib." [بخاری۔ کتاب المغازی۔ باب قولہ تعالیٰ یوم حنین اذ أعجبتکم کثرتکم]
[62]
Why Were You Not Taught Poetry?

We did not make your ﷺ nature poetic because this Quran is a book of guidance, in which the solid realities of the life of this world and the Hereafter are mentioned, whereas poetry is mere play of the mind and fanciful constructs. So, when the Quran has no relation to poetry, the nature of the bearer of the Quran should be in accordance with the temperament of the Quran, not that of a poet.