Surah ash-Shu`ara' (The Poets ) 26 : 221

Overview (Verses 221 - 223)

Once more in this final passage of the sūrah, the Qur’ān is brought into focus. The first comment emphasized that it was a revelation from the Lord of all the worlds, brought to Muhammad through the trusted Spirit, Gabriel. Secondly, it made clear that no evil spirit could deliver it. Now the sūrah asserts that such evil ones do not come to a person like Muhammad (peace be upon him), who is honest, truthful and advocates a sound system. They go only to a liar, such as a wicked fortune-teller. Such people receive whatever evil spirits give them and circulate their disinformation widely after they themselves have further exaggerated it: “Shall I tell you upon whom it is that the satans descend? They descend upon every lying sinner. They eagerly listen, but most of them are liars.” (Verses 221-223)

There were among the Arabs some fortune-tellers who claimed that the jinn brought them news and information. People used to go to these fortune-tellers seeking advice, and trusting their prophecies, but most were liars. To believe them was to pursue myth and wishful thinking. No such fortune-teller advocated any proper code of living, or urged people to fear God, or counselled them to believe. When the Prophet called on people to accept his message, he actually advocated a complete code of virtuous living.

At times, the Arab unbelievers described the Qur’ān as poetry, claiming that the Prophet was a poet. This was due to their utter helplessness in facing up to the Qur’ān; its powerful discourse was incomparable to anything they knew. They realized that it touched people’s hearts, affected their feelings and overcame their resistance. Yet they could not stop it.

In this sūrah, the Qur’ān itself explains to them that the way of life Muhammad advocated and the Qur’ān outlined was totally and fundamentally different from that of poets and poetry. This Qur’ān sets a clear method and aims towards a definite objective. The Prophet did not say something one day which he contradicted the next. Nor did he pursue fleeting desires and momentary feelings. Instead, he pursued the establishment of his faith, following a straight system that admits no crookedness. Poets are totally unlike this. They are often hostage to their reactions and momentary feelings, which press for expression as they occur. They describe something as black today and white tomorrow. When they are happy, they say one thing, which they contradict when they are angry. Their moods are never consistent. Besides, they create their own imaginary world. They conjure up actions and results, then imagine these to be hard facts which influence their behaviour. Hence, their concern for realities is diminished because they create a different, imaginery world in which they live.