Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:225-226

"In every valley they wander" (225): This is a metaphor for their straying into every branch of speech, their deviation, and their lack of concern for moderation or staying within the bounds of truth in their discourse. They go so far as to prefer the most cowardly of men over ‘Antarah, and the stingiest over Hatim; they slander the innocent and label the pious as corrupt.

Regarding Al-Farazdaq: It is narrated that Sulayman ibn ‘Abd al-Malik heard him recite:

They spent the night beside me, prostrate, While I spent the night breaking the seals of the chaste.

Sulayman said, "The legal punishment (hadd) is now due upon you." Al-Farazdaq replied, "O Commander of the Faithful, God has averted the punishment from me by His saying: 'And [do you not see] that they say what they do not do?'"

"Except for those who believe, do righteous deeds, remember God often, and defend themselves after they have been wronged. And those who have wronged are going to know to what [kind of] return they will be returned." (227)