Poem and Poetry: From the perspective of Shia Narrators and Scholars

Poem is a literary speech which contains rhythm and rhyme to express or reflect the feelings and imagination of the poet. As for the historical background, it is said that the first poem was composed by Adam (s.a.) for his murdered son Abel, when he received the news from Abel’s brother. The art of poetry was used by the prophets in their courses of pedagogy. Upon the emergence of Islam in the Arabic peninsula, it was pretty much valued and prized among the nomad people of that era and that rudimentary society to the extent that some narrators attribute it to the reveal of the verse, "shuarra" (poets). Among the companion of the holy prophet were some poets who were greatly honored and respected by him (pbuh); so, it can be claimed that the first person who rewarded poets was the holy prophet (pbuh) himself. Having been inspired by the issue of succession after the prophet’s death, poet companions started showing their dissention about the caliphate by composing poems. A poem by umer-o-aas was strongly replied by Noeman-bin-ajelan favoring Imam Ali (s.a.) to be rightfully the caliphate. History shows that the imams have been in constant contact with the virtuous poets and prized them in different ways. Later on, this tradition has been carried on by the great scholars and narrators by using poetry in their islamic works.