A Poet Finds His Cause

Hassan ibn Thabit belonged to Banu al-Najjar of the Khazraj, and before Islam he was already a celebrated poet. The biographers say he had praised kings and chiefs in the courts of the Ghassanids, who ruled the Arab Christians of Syria, in the style of the age. When the Prophet ﷺ came to Madinah, he found a cause worth his tongue.

Quraysh had their own poets, who attacked the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims in verse, and poetry in Arabia was a weapon as real as a spear. The Prophet ﷺ asked who would defend them, and some said the sword, but the Ansar's poets answered that they could defend with words.

The Prophet ﷺ set up a pulpit for Hassan in the mosque, from which he recited verses in praise of the Messenger ﷺ and in answer to his attackers. The Prophet ﷺ listened and approved, and told him that Allah would support him with the Holy Spirit as long as he defended His Messenger.