Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
Poetry takes the same ruling as any other speech: that which is good is allowed and can be recited, but that which is otherwise, it is not allowed to recite it or listen to it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that some poetry contains wisdom. This shows that not all poetry is good; hence you find poetry that encourages sins, innovation and superstition, and some that encourages guidance and promotes the truth.
241. Aisha was asked: “Did the Prophet (peace be upon him) quote from poetry that which he used as a proverb?” She replied: “He recited a line of poetry of ‘Abdullāh ibn Rawāhah but without following its structure and rhyme. He recited this couplet of his, ‘News is brought to you by a person whom you have not compensated.’” [279]
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
It was narrated that the most disliked of speech to him (peace be upon him) was poetry but he would quote some proverbs taken from poetry on occasion. Such as when he recited a line of poetry of the brother of Qais ibn Turfah whilst changing the order of the words i.e. he did not follow the order of words in the line so he said, “News is brought to you by a person whom you have not compensated.” Abū Bakr said, “O Messenger of Allāh! The couplet is not as you have recited!” The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) replied, “I am not a poet.” Meaning that he only intended to mention the message of the words and not to recite the poem.
‘Abdullāh ibn Rawāhah was one of the poets who defended the Prophet (peace be upon him) but the most active influential poets who defended him were Ka’b ibn Mālik and Hassan ibn Thābit.
242. Abū Hurairah narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said, ‘The most truthful statement said by a poet is that of Labīd, ‘Indeed, be aware, everything besides Allāh is false.’ Umayyah ibn Abī al-Salt was close to accepting Islām.’” [280]
Al-Bajūrī said,
Labīd ibn Rabiash al-‘Amirī was one of the renowned poets, he embraced Islām and did not recite any poetry from that point on as he said, “The Qur’ān suffices me.”
The meaning of the line is that everything else besides Allāh is doomed to perish.
Alī al-Qārī said,
The reason he (peace be upon him) described these words as being the most truthful statement a poet has ever said was because the statement conforms to the ayah: {Everything will be destroyed except His Face}[281] and this is the core of monotheism.
Umayyah ibn Abī al-Salt was a poet whose poems conformed to the tenets of Islām and he believed in the Resurrection and was a worshipper but he did not embrace Islām, though he died after the emergence of Islām.
243. Jundub ibn Sufyān narrated: “Once a rock fell upon the toe of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) and caused it to bleed. Thereupon, he recited this couplet, ‘You are but a toe that has bled. This is not fruitless, for reward has been obtained in the path of Allāh.’” [282]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
The bleeding was caused by the toe of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) hitting a stone while he was walking. This hadīth is evidence that the Muslim is rewarded for every difficulty and test he goes through if he shows patience and seeks the reward of Allāh.
244. The same is reported through another route. [283]
245. A man asked al-Barā ibn Āzib: “O Abū ‘Umārah! Did you all flee the battle?” He replied, “No, not all of us. The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) did not turn away but [some] people in the army were hasty [to collect the spoils of war] and so the people of the tribe of Hawāzin began to shower arrows [on their heads]. The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) was upon a mule and Abū Sufyān ibn Al-Hārith ibn Abdul Muttalib was leading it by its reins. The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) was reciting the following couplet, ‘Verily, I am the Prophet, and it is no lie. I am from the children [grandsons] of Abdul Muttalib.’” [284]
Al-Bajūrī said,
The answer of al-Barā that not everyone fled the battle on that day required him to state that he (peace be upon him) did not turn away to show that the major companions remained with him too. However, al-Barā did not use the term “flee” when talking about the Prophet (peace be upon him) to avoid attributing him with such an ugly defective characteristic. This is because it is forbidden to describe him with such a trait and it would nullify one’s Islām to call him as such if he intends to degrade him, and if no degrading is intended then the person deserves severe punishment according al-Shāfi’ī and deserves the death penalty according to Imām Mālik. This is because the term “turn away” can be used to show that the person is changing his tactics whereas the term “flee” necessitates cowardice and fear.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
The hasty ones refer to those in whose hearts Islām was not established deeply such as the new Muslims, those who embraced Islām after the conquest of Makkah and those like them.
The battle referred to here is the battle of Hunayn, which happened after the conquest of Makkah when the tribes of Hawāzin and Thaqīf agreed to unite to fight the Muslims. In light of this, the Prophet (peace be upon him) led a force of ten thousand persons from Madīnah and two thousand from those who embraced Islām after Makkah was conquered (who are the ones who the Prophet (peace be upon him) freed on that day) and eighty disbelievers, including Safwan ibn Umayyah as he (peace be upon him) borrowed one hundred shields from him to use in the battle.
This battle was amongst the toughest that the Prophet (peace be upon him) participated in because after some of the army fled, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked al-Abbās to call the Ansār and those who gave the pledge under the tree, and his voice was heard from the distance of eight miles, upon which the army returned to the battle swiftly. Then, after they engaged in the fight and it became extremely heated, the Prophet (peace be upon him) picked up some pebbles from the ground and threw them in the air and said, “May their faces be deformed!” Subsequently, the pebbles entered the eyes of the disbelievers and the Muhajirūn and Ansār engaged in the battle fiercely, causing the disbelievers to flee the battle and be defeated.
Angels fought alongside the Muslims in the battle of Badr and the battle of Hunayn only, where in the latter they wore red turbans.
The reason why the Prophet (peace be upon him) was riding his white mule although he had horses and riding a mule in the battle is not suitable for engagement, was to show the Muslims that victory was guaranteed from Allāh so that their hearts would be filled with tranquillity and they would return to the battle. This action of the Prophet (peace be upon him) shows his great courage and bravery.
The meaning of the couplet is that he is truthfully the Prophet (peace be upon him) and thus he will not run away and will not be defeated, and it is no lie because a Prophet does not lie and so he was certain of victory.
246. Anas ibn Mālik narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) entered Makkah for Umratul Qadā while ‘Abdullāh ibn Rawāhah was walking ahead of him reciting these couplets:
O non-believers clear his path and leave today,
For today we shall strike you upon his arrival,
Such a strike that we will separate the head from its body,
And will cause a friend to forget his friend.
‘Umar said, ‘O Ibn Rawāhah! How do you recite poetry in the presence of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) and in the Sacred House of Allāh?’ The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said, ‘O ‘Umar, leave him! These couplets have more impact than showering arrows onto them.’” [285]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
The statement of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) shows that poetry scares the enemy and troubles them, strengthening the believers to avert the harm of the disbelievers and protect the religion of Allāh.
Alī al-Qārī said,
Umratul Qadā refers to the Umrah that the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) wanted to make up as he could not perform it due to the truce signed between the Muslims and disbelievers on the day of Hudaybiyyah that made the Muslims agree not to perform Umrah on that day. This is evidence that if a person intended to perform Umrah or Hajj and after entering the state ihrām could not continue it, he should make it up.
The couplets were said after the day of Hudaybiyyah to celebrate this victory of the Muslims and to threaten the disbelievers of what will happen to them should they breach the truce.
The reason behind the statement of ‘Umar was because he thought poetry was condemned in all cases as he read it in the Qur’ān and heard it from the Messenger of Allāh . The response of the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) was to show that not all poetry is condemned and admonished.
247. Jābir ibn Samurah narrated: “I sat with the Prophet (peace be upon him) more than a hundred times. His companions would recite poetry and relate certain stories from the days of Jāhiliyyah. The Prophet (peace be upon him) listened to them silently and at times he smiled with them.” [286]
Abdul Razzaq al-Badr said,
The reason he mentioned the number of times was to assure the listener that the statement he was about to narrate was true.
Al-Bajūrī said,
This hadīth teaches us that it is allowed to recite poetry and listen to it even if it includes mentioning the days before Islām and events, on the condition that it has nothing that is considered as disliked or unlawful in religion.
248. Abū Hurairah narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said: ‘The best couplet that the Arabs ever recited is that of Labīd, ‘Indeed, be aware, everything besides Allāh is false.’’” [287]
249. Amr ibn Sharīd reported that his father said: “I once rode behind the Prophet (peace be upon him). I recited for him one hundred couplets of Umayyah ibn Salt’s poetry. After reciting each couplet, he asked me to continue until I recited a hundred couplets. In the end, he said, ‘He (Umayyah) came close to accepting Islām.’” [288]
Ibn Hajar al-Haytamī said,
The liking that the Prophet (peace be upon him) took to the poetry of Umayyah and his request to hear more of it is evidence that poetry is recommended if it includes affirmation of Allāh’s Oneness and fine gems and wisdoms.
Al-Bajūrī said,
It is said that Umayyah is the famous poet Umayyah ibn Abī al-Salt al-Thaqafī who Allāh revealed an ayah regarding: {And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators.}[289] He read the Torah and the Bible before the emergence of Islām, and knew that a prophet would appear. However, he desired for himself to be that prophet and that was the reason why he rejected the Prophet (peace be upon him) and caused him to envy him and disbelieve.
The statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was said after he heard the content of the poem as it included words indicating monotheism and good wisdom.
250. Aisha narrated: “The Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) would place something high in the Masjid for Hassan ibn Thābit, so that he could stand upon it and recite poetry praising the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) (or it was said: defending the Messenger of Allāh). He (peace be upon him) would say, ‘Verily, Allāh aids Hassan with the Rūh al-Quds as long as he defends or praises the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him).’” [290]
Al-Bajūrī said,
Rūh al-Quds (the Holy Spirit) refers to Jibra’īl and he was referred to as the “spirit” because the spirit (soul) brings life to the heart and because he is the one who delivers the revelations that provide eternal life to the Prophets.
He (Hassan) defended the Prophet (peace be upon him) in response to the false accusations and abuse of the disbelievers.
251. Aisha reported a similar hadīth through a different route.