Surah Ash-Shu'araa (26) — Ayah 224

(Ayah 224) {وَ الشُّعَرَآءُ يَتَّبِعُهُمُ الْغَاوٗنَ : ’’ الْغَاوٗنَ ‘‘ ’’غَوٰي يَغْوِيْ‘‘} is the plural of the active participle from (ض), meaning misguided people. The disbelievers of Makkah used to accuse the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) not only of being a soothsayer but also of being a poet, so after negating soothsaying, the negation of being a poet is also mentioned. See also Surah Ya-Sin (69) and Haqqah (40 to 43). In these verses, three characteristics of poets are mentioned, from which it is clear that there is a world of difference between poets and the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him), and between poetry and the Noble Qur’an. The first characteristic is that misguided, wandering, and disreputable people follow poets; then, if those who follow them are misguided, how can the poets themselves be any less misguided? The greatest poet of the Arabs, "Imru’ al-Qais," spread such shamelessness and obscenity in his poetry that there is no parallel to it, to the extent that even the Arabs, despite considering him their greatest poet, used to call him {’’اَلْمَلِكُ الضَّلِيْلُ ‘‘} (the debauched king). The favorite subjects of poets are love affairs, drinking wine, and mentioning the beauty of street women or the innocent daughters and daughters-in-law of someone, or obscene talk that arouses lust. They unjustly praise some and unjustly criticize others, so their companions are also of the same kind. Whereas the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and his companions were extremely truthful, pure, noble, and civilized. Only a person who has crossed all limits of shame in lying could call such a person a poet.