And when it was from poetry - as the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said - there is wisdom, and as Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, it has good and bad in it. Among the poets are those who praise Islam and the Muslims, and they ridicule polytheism and the polytheists. They discourage attachment to this world and encourage yearning for the Hereafter. They urge good morals and warn against its evils. The criterion between good and bad is the frequent mention of Allah. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said: "Except for those who have believed" meaning: in Allah and His Messenger, "and done righteous deeds" meaning: in affirmation of their faith, "and remembered Allah" being mindful of His perfection, "much". Poetry did not distract them from the remembrance, rather they built their poetry upon matters of religion and supporting the law. Thus, for all of this, there is the mention of Allah. A fitting example of this is a poem attributed to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, and its response to Ibn al-Zubair. At that time, he was upon his polytheism, and this was during the first expedition in Islam. It was the expedition of Ubaydah ibn al-Harith, may Allah be pleased with him. For indeed, in Abu Bakr's poem, may Allah be pleased with him, there is not a verse except that it contains the mention of Allah, either explicitly or by mentioning the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, or something from his religion. And what does not contain anything from that is attributed to him for building upon it. As for its opposite, there is nothing of that in it. Ibn Ishaq said: Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said in the expedition of Ubaydah ibn al-Harith, may Allah be pleased with him:

"Is it from the shadow of Salma in the blood-soaked plains that I weep, and I pass through the tribe where an incident occurs, you see from Luhay a group that is not repelled?

"Against disbelief is a reminder, and no messenger has come to them who is truthful, but they denied him.

"And they said: You are not one of us to remain.

"When we call them to the truth, they turn away and flee like the frightened deer.

"How many have we killed among them by kinship?

"And piety has left them something that is not catastrophic. If they return from their disbelief and their disobedience,

"Then the pure things of the lawful are not like the impure. And if they ride upon their tyranny and their misguidance,

"Then the punishment of Allah is not delayed from them.

"And we are people from the lineage of a victorious one.

"For us is honor from it in the noble branches.

"So it is more fitting for the Lord of the dancers in the evening,

"To be the ones who are taken in the swift, the noble.

"Like the deer around Mecca, they are gathered,

"Desiring the watering places of the well, the muddy.

"If they do not awaken soon from their misguidance,

"And I am not if I swear a saying to be untruthful.

"(p-116) To hasten upon them is a raid with a verifier,

"That forbids the pure women from the foul.

"It leaves behind the slain, the birds circle around them,

"And the disbelievers do not show mercy like the son of Harith.

"So convey to the Banu Sahm a message from you,

"And every ungrateful one seeks evil.

"If they scatter my honor upon your bad opinion,

"Then I am not from your honors, not scattered.

Then Ibn al-Zubair responded and said:

"Is it from the trace of a house that has become desolate that you weep with an eye whose tears do not cease?"

And from the wonders of the days and all of time, there is a wonder from precedents and events.

For a troop that came to us, led by Ubaidah, who is called in the tumult, the son of Harith.

So let us leave idols in Mecca, devoted to them, as inheritances of a noble heir.

When we met them at the reddish sumr, and pure steeds in the dust, eager.

And white like salt upon their backs, by the hands of warriors like fierce lions.

We establish with it a storm that is not inclined, and we heal the wounds quickly, without delay.

So hold back in the face of a great fear and awe, and a matter has amazed them, for them is a matter of inheritance.

And if they had not acted, the women would have lamented, their days among the delayed and the menstruating.

And the slain were reported about them, a devoted one to them or an oblivious one, not seeking.

So convey to Abu Bakr a message with you, for you are not absent from the matters of Fihr.

And when a strong oath is not due from me, it renews a war whose alliance is not broken.

And Al-Baghawi narrated with his chain from the way of Abd al-Razzaq from the hadith of Ka'b ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Indeed, Allah has revealed in poetry what He has revealed." The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The believer fights with his sword and his tongue, and by Him in Whose Hand is my soul! It is as if you are throwing them with it like the arrows of the bow." And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, used to recite poetry and ask for it in the mosque. Imam Ahmad narrated this hadith of Ka'b, and Al-Nasa'i narrated with men whom Muslim accepted from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Fight the polytheists with your wealth, your souls, and your tongues." Al-Baghawi said: And it was narrated that he - meaning Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him - called upon Umar ibn Abi Rabiah al-Makhzumi and asked him to recite the poem he composed:

"Are you from the family of Numa? Are you departing and then returning tomorrow morning, or are you going and then leaving?"

And it is close to ninety verses. When he finished it, Ibn Abbas repeated it, and he had memorized it in one go. And it is enough for the poet in distancing himself from the condemnation of this verse that he does not let poetry dominate him, distracting him from remembrance until he becomes one of the misguided. And it is not a condition that there be no jest in his poetry at all, for Hassan, may Allah be pleased with him, used to recite to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, something like his words in a long poem in which he praised him:

"As if she is a Sabean from the house of Ras, her mixture is honey and water.

When the drinks are mentioned one day, they are for the good scent, the ransom.

We will assign her the blame if we are hurt, if there is a burden or bark.

And we drink it, and it leaves us as kings, and lions, nothing prevents us from meeting."

And the prohibition of wine was in the third year of Hijrah or the fourth year. And this poem was said by Hassan, may Allah be pleased with him, during the conquest in the eighth year or during the Umrah of Al-Qada in the seventh year, so it is from what the poet says but does not do.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, made known the condition of those excluded in the mention, which is the foundation of every matter, He followed it with what led them to poetry from the injustice that the victory stirred in them. So He said: ﴿And they were victorious﴾ meaning: They made themselves responsible for the causes of victory through their poetry against those who harmed them ﴿after they had been wronged﴾ meaning: The wrongdoing of the oppressor against them occurred through mockery and similar acts.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, permitted seeking victory from the oppressor, and the initiator—if the responder limited himself to his response—was more unjust, it was appropriate that if he exceeded, he would be deserving of aggression and would regret. Allah warned both of them, affirming the threat with the letter 's' in His saying, which the righteous predecessors used to admonish one another with, for you will not find anything more awe-inspiring than it, nor more terrifying or more painful for the hearts of the contemplators, nor more piercing for the innards of the reflectors: ﴿And they will know﴾ and with the generalization in His saying: ﴿those who have wronged﴾ meaning: all of them, whoever they were, [and] with the exaggeration through ambiguity in His saying: ﴿What a reversal﴾ meaning: in this world and the Hereafter ﴿they will reverse﴾. And the end of it has turned, as you see, with the description of the clear Book with what He described it with of majesty and greatness, that it is from [with] Allah, revealed by Him, the best of His angels, upon the noblest of His creation, removing all confusion, negating from it all falsehood, and concluding with the warning against injustice at the beginning in the glorification of the clear Book, and the consolation of the noble Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the threat to the disbelievers who are the most unjust of the unjust. And it continued after that in the description of the clear Qur'an, and the glad tidings for the believers and the warning for the disbelievers. So glorified is He who revealed it to the trustworthy unlettered Prophet, a guidance for the worlds, and a clear sign with its miraculous nature for all creation, remaining until the Day of Judgment.