Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:226

And that they say what they do not do. Al-Awfi reported that Ibn Abbas said: at the time of the Messenger of Allah, two men, one from among the Ansar and one from another tribe, were ridiculing one another in verse, and each one of them was supported by a group of his own people, who were the foolish ones, and Allah said:

والشعراء يتبعهم الغاوون

ألم تر أنهم في كل واد يهيمون

وأنهم يقولون ما ﻻأ يفعلون

As for the poets, the erring ones follow them. See you not that they speak about every subject in their poetry and that they say what they do not do. What is meant here is that the Messenger, to whom this Qur'an was revealed, was not a soothsayer or a poet, because his situation was quite obviously different to theirs, as Allah says:

وما علمنه الشعر وما ينبغى له إن هو إﻻ ذكر وقرءان مبين

And We have not taught him poetry, nor is it suitable for him. This is only a Reminder and a plain Qur'an. (36:69)

إنه لقول رسول كريم

وما هو بقول شاعر قليﻼ ما تومنون

وﻻ بقول كاهن قليﻼ ما تذكرون

تنزيل من رب العلمين

That this is verily, the word of an honored Messenger. It is not the word of a poet, little is that you believe! Nor is it the word of a soothsayer, little is that you remember! This is the Revelation sent down from the Lord of all that exits. (69:40-43) The Exception of the Poets of Islam Allah tells: