26. ash-Shuara, Mecca 47
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَالشُّعَرَاء
يَتَّبِعُهُمُ
الْغَاوُونَ
﴿٢٢٤﴾
26:224. And the Poets -- it is those straying in Evil, who follow them:
C3237. The Poets: to he read along with the exceptions mentioned in verse 227 below.
Poetry and other arts are not in themselves evil, but may on the contrary be used in the service of religion and righteousness. But there is a danger that they may be prostituted for base purposes. If they are insincere ("they say what they do not") or are divorced from actual life or its goodness or its serious purpose, they may become instruments of evil or futility.
They then wander about without any set purpose, and seek the depths (valleys) of human folly rather than the heights of divine light.
أَلَمْ
تَرَ أَنَّهُمْ
فِي كُلِّ وَادٍ
يَهِيمُونَ
﴿٢٢٥﴾
26:225. Seest thou not that they wander distracted in every valley?
وَأَنَّهُمْ
يَقُولُونَ
مَا لَا يَفْعَلُونَ
﴿٢٢٦﴾
26:226. And that they say what they practice not? --
إِلَّا
الَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا
الصَّالِحَاتِ
وَذَكَرُوا
اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا...
26:227. Except those who believe, work righteousness, engage much in the remembrance of Allah,
C3238. Poetry and the fine arts which are to be commended are those which emanate from minds steeped in Faith, which try to carry out in life the fine sentiments they express in their artistic work, aim at the glory of Allah rather than at self-glorification or the fulsome praise of men with feet of clay, and do not (as in Jihad) attack anything except aggressive evil.
In this sense a perfect artist should be a perfect man. Perfection may not be attainable in this life, but it should be the aim of every man, and especially of one who wishes to become a supreme artist, not only in technique but in spirit and essentials.
Among the commendable poets contemporary with the holy Prophet may be mentioned Hassan and Labid: the latter had the honour of being one of the seven whose poems were selected for "hanging" (the Mu'allaqat) in the Days of Ignorance.
...وَانتَصَرُوا مِن بَعْدِ مَا ظُلِمُوا...
and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked.
...وَسَيَعْلَمُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا أَيَّ مُنقَلَبٍ يَنقَلِبُونَ ﴿٢٢٧﴾
And soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take!
C3239. These were the scurrilous rhymesters, who were doomed to come to an evil end.
Asad’s Version:
26:224 And as for the poets" - [they, too, are prone to deceive themselves: and so, only] those who are lost In grievous error would follow them.
(26:225) Art thou not aware that they roam confusedly through all the valleys [of words and thoughts], 100
(26:226) and that they [so often] say what they do not do [or feel]?
26:227 [Most of them are of this kind - ] save those who have attained to faith, and do righteous deeds, and remember God unceasingly, and defend them selves [only] after having been wronged, 101 and [trust in God's promise that] those who are bent on wrong doing will in time come to know how evil a turn their destinies are bound to take ! 102
99 An allusion to the fact that some of the pagan Arabs regarded the Qur'an as a product of Muhammad's supposedly poetic mind. (See also 36:69 and the corresponding notes 38 and 39.)
100 The idiomatic phrase hama fi widyan (lit., "he wandered [or "roamed"] through valleys") is used, as most of the commentators point out, to describe a confused or aimless and often self- contradictory - play with words and thoughts. In this context it is meant to stress the difference between the precision of the Qur'an, which is free from all inner contradictions (cf note 97 on 4:82), and the vagueness often inherent in poetry.
101 Thus the Qur'an makes it clear that a true believer may fight only in self-defence: cf.
22:39-40, the earliest reference to war as such, and 2:190-194, where the circumstances making
war fully justified are further elaborated.
102 Lit., "by what [kind of] turning they will turn".
=====================================
36. Surah Ya Sin
(O Thou Human Being) Mecca 41
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَمَا عَلَّمْنَاهُ
الشِّعْرَ وَمَا
يَنبَغِي لَهُ...
36:69 . We have not instructed the (Prophet) in Poetry, nor is it meet for Him:
C4015. Cf. 26:224 and n. 3237.
Here "Poetry" is used as connoting fairy tales, imaginary descriptions, things futile, false, or obscure, such as decadent Poetry is, whereas the Quran is a practical guide, true and clear.
... إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ وَقُرْآنٌ مُّبِينٌ ﴿٦٩﴾
this is no less than a Message and a Qur'án making things clear:
Asad’s Version:
36:69 AND [thus it is:] We have not imparted to this [Prophet the gift of] poetry, nor would [poetry] have suited this [message]: 38 it is but a reminder and a [divine] discourse, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth, 39
36:69 [Yuksel] We did not teach him poetry, nor does he need it. This is a reminder and a clear Quran.
[[Asad’s notes - 38 This passage resumes the theme enunciated in the opening verses of this surah, namely, the revelation of the Qur'an. As in 26:224, we have here an allusion to the allegation of Muhammad's opponents, in his own as well as in later times, that what he described as divine revelation was in reality an outcome of his own poetic invention. This the Qur'an refutes by alluding to the fundamental difference between poetry - especially Arabic poetry - and divine revelation as exemplified by the Qur'an: whereas in the former the meaning is often subordinated to the rhythm and the melody of
language, in the Qur'an the exact opposite is the case, inasmuch as here the choice of words, their sound and their position in the sentence - and, hence, its rhythm and melody - are always subordinated to the meaning intended. (Cf also 26: 225 and the corresponding note 100.)
39 For this composite rendering of the adjective mubin, see surah 12, note 2. Literally, the above phrase reads, "a reminder and a [divine] discourse..., etc., with the conjunctive particle wa ("and") being used here, as in 1 5: 1 , to point out that the Qur'an is an integral element in the process of divine revelation. ]]