Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Meaning of hadith: Poetry is from Iblis

“In a hadith it is said that poetry is the work of Iblis: 'الشیرو من مزامیری ابلیس'. What does this mean?”Asked by Daniyal, Patna

He answers at 1:39:23 in Life After Death · 2 min 12 sec

His answer, in his own words
1:39:23
Mr. Daniyal ka Patna Bihar se sawal hai. Unhon ne likha hai: "Hadees mein aaya hai ke shero shayari Iblees ka kaam hai . Ash-shiru min mazamir Iblees. Iska matlab kya hai? Iska matlab hai ek aadmi romantic ban jaata hai. Kisi bhi shair ko dekh ke woh romantic rehta hai. Hamari family mein ek sahab thay, shair thay woh. Unka shair hai: "Shayari kya hai farogh-e-husn-e-peh'han dekhna khak-dan-e-aab-o-gul mein aalam-e-jaan dekhna." Matlab khayali duniya mein rehte hain, tasawwuri duniya mein rehte hain.
1:40:18
Huqaaq se unko matlab nahi hota. Ya kisi bhi shair ko dekhiye. Hamare haan bohat mashhoor tareen shair hain Allama Iqbal ka. Woh romantic insaan, aadmi ko romantic is mein daal diya. Yaani romantic world mein. Misaal ke taur par ke woh. "Din nahi tera nashiman qasr-e-sultani gumbad par. Toh shahi hai basar kar pahadon ke chattan'on mein." Yeh koi koi baat hai yeh? Toh ek romantic Thinking hai bas.
1:40:55
to shair, dekhiye Europe mein bohat shairi galat thi. jab science aai to shairi khatam ho gai. isi tarah Arab mein shairi bohat thi. lekin Islamabad mein shairi khatam ho gai. ab to yeh daur-e-zawaal hai jis mein shairi ki baatein karte hain log. yeh zawaal ki alamat hai shairi. ji haan. zinda qaum mein haqeeqat hoti hai, haqaa'iq par un ka zehn chalta hai. yeh romantic ideas par nahin. yeh to main samajhta hoon ke zawaal ki alamat hai. yeh zindagi ki alamat nahin hai, shairi waghera kuch.
1:41:35
Maulana, in ka aik aur sawal hai. unhon ne likha hai: "aajkal aisay log uthe hain jo Islam par articles aur kitabein likh kar chhaap rahe hain.
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Machine transcription. These are his recorded words, written down by software from the Urdu he speaks — so a line may carry a misheard word. Every timestamp above opens the video at that second: one tap and you can hear him say it. Quote it as speech, and link to the moment.