وَٱلشُّعَرَآءُ يَتَّبِعُهُمُ ٱلْغَاوُۥنَ
Commentary:
In this verse the second imputation that the Holy Prophet is a poet (21:6) is rebutted. Four reasons which have been spread over the present and the next three verses constitute this rebuttal. They are: (1) Those who follow and associate with the poets are men of no high moral character. They are prone to err and stray away from the path of rectitude. But the Holy Prophet brought about a wonderful moral transformation among his followers who became possessed of very noble ideals and very high moral character. (2) The poets have no fixed ideal or programme in life. They, as it were, wander about distractedly in every valley. But the Holy Prophet had a great and sublime mission in life. It was the moral and spiritual regeneration of the depraved Arab society and through them the reformation and resuscitation of the whole degenerate and corrupt humanity. It was given to no woman-born to pursue and achieve a higher and nobler ideal. (3) The poets do not practise what they preach but the Holy Prophet was not only the noblest preceptor but the greatest man of action and a model exemplar also. (4) The poets praise and abuse other people as it suits them and sometimes even make bold to prophesy about the future but never know what their own end would be. But the Holy Prophet, deserted by his own kith and kin and amidst the severest persecution, when all was dark and dismal around him, emphatically declared that he would eventually succeed and he did succeed.