In our view, the couplets of our righteous predecessors are not mere words
which come in form of poetry, and they are not absolute terms brought into a
poetic form, on the contrary our belief is that from one side they comprise very
lofty issues of divine recognition taken from Quran and Sunnah; and lessons from
philosophy, religious teachings, history, good advices and morals, in addition to
literary arts and fields of language and sources of history, which are mentioned in
them.
That is why, couplets having these dimensions, are objectives of
intellectuals, aims of philosophers, need of scholars of ethics, and desires of
littérateurs and hope of historians; on the contrary you can say that it is the desire
of all human societies.
Religious poetry has other aims, which is the most important point present in
the poetry of classical poets; which comprise of: proving the veracity of religion
and calling towards truth, spreading excellence of holy progeny, propagating the
spirituality of the purified progeny in society, and the sweet message reaches to
everyone. In royal gatherings, it is the poetical compositions, which embellish the
surroundings.
These verses promote Aale Muhammad (a.s.) among people. Eloquent
speeches and verses cannot compete with it. in the same way powers of neither
the pen nor the sword cannot reach upto it. In religious propagation, it is the good
verses, which perform the function of creating a nice atmosphere.
The Maimiya Qasida of Farazdaq, Hashimiyat of Kumayt, Ainia of Himyari,
Taiya of Dibil or Mamiya of Abu Nuwas grants spirituality to the hearers.
In this book, we would mention senior personalities of Shia faith, who
during the first century, were prominent poets of Islamic dominions. Through
that they were able to strike at the hearts of the enemies.
They propagated the Wilayat of Ahle Bayt (a.s.) in all lands. The Holy
Imams (a.s.) granted their wealth to them and spent so much that they became
needless of earning their living and dedicated all their capacities for poetry
writings.
The Imams encouraged the poets to pen poems in their praise and rewarded
them with glad tidings. For example a tradition says:
One, who composes couplets for us, Ahle Bayt (a.s.), the Almighty Allah
builds a castle for him in Paradise. They insisted on people to undertake such
compositions and make one another aware of them.
For example, Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) said:
“Teach your children couplets of Abdi.”
He also said: “One, who composes verses about us, is helped by Ruhul Quds.”1
It is mentioned in Rijal Kishi that Abu Qummi said:
“I recited some verses in the presence of Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.)
containing praises for his respected father. Then I asked the Imam if I could recite
regarding His Eminence. The Imam separated the part of couplets written by me
and wrote on the top:
“Well done, may God give you a good reward.”
It is mentioned another traditional report that: I sought permission from the
Imam to recite an elegy for his father.
He said: All right, you may recite Marsiya for my father as well as for me.”2