يُلْقُونَ ٱلسَّمْعَ وَأَكْثَرُهُمْ كَـٰذِبُونَ 223
Translations
They pass on what is heard, and most of them are liars.
Transliteration
Yulqūn as-sama' wa-akthāruhum kādhībūn
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes how the poets and soothsayers listen to the angels' conversations and then mix truth with falsehood in their recitations, with most of them being liars in their claims and fabrications. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this addresses the common practice among pre-Islamic poets and those claiming supernatural knowledge who would eavesdrop on spiritual matters but corrupt the message with their own inventions and lies. The ayah emphasizes that even if such individuals receive some true information, their fundamental dishonesty renders their overall message unreliable.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the context of Surah Ash-Shu'ara's discussion of poets and their characteristics, specifically addressing the claims of poets and soothsayers in Meccan society who pretended to possess divine or supernatural knowledge. The surah uses poetry as a lens to discuss falsehood and deception in religious matters, contrasting the fabrications of poets with the truth of the Qur'an.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'The worst of lies is that a man claims to have seen a dream which he has not seen' (Sahih Bukhari 7:173). Additionally, 'Whoever claims to have heard something from the heavens and it is a lie, let him prepare his seat in the Fire' (related in various hadith collections regarding false claims of revelation).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah warns believers against blindly accepting claims made by those who present themselves as spiritually enlightened or specially informed, reminding us to scrutinize messages against the standard of truth and divine revelation rather than being swayed by eloquence or claims of supernatural knowledge.