They descend and inform the soothsayers of it. The soothsayers would relate it to the people, and they would mix it with much falsehood. As for that which was heard from the heaven, it becomes true; and as for the falsehood they mixed with it, it becomes lies.

16046 - My father narrated to us: Nu'aym ibn Hammad narrated to us: Ibn al-Mubarak narrated to us: Ma'mar informed us, from al-Zuhri, regarding His saying: "And most of them are liars," he said: "The devil steals a hearing, then he comes with a word of truth and casts it into the ear of his ally, and he adds to it more than a hundred lies."

16047 - 'Ali ibn al-Husayn narrated to us: Ibrahim ibn al-'Ala' al-Himsii informed us: Isma'il ibn 'Ayyash narrated to us: 'Umar ibn 'Abd Allah, the freedman of Ghufrah, narrated to me, saying: I heard Muhammad ibn Ka'b saying: "By Allah, no one among the people of the earth has a star in the heaven, but they follow [them] and take the stars as a pretext. It is just as Allah informed us: 'Except one who steals a hearing and is pursued by a piercing flame.'" He said: "[This refers to] 'Upon whom the devils descend,' up to His saying: 'And most of them are liars.'"

[His saying the Almighty: "And the poets, the straying ones follow them"]

[The First Interpretation]

16048 - Abu Zur'ah narrated to us: Minjab ibn al-Harith narrated to us: Bishr ibn 'Umarah informed us, from Abu Rawq, from al-Dahhak, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding His saying: "And the poets, the straying ones follow them," he said: "The polytheists among them, those who used to lampoon the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions (may Allah be pleased with them)."

16049 - My father narrated to us: Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth, narrated to us: Mu'awiyah ibn Salih narrated to me, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talhah, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding His saying: "And the poets, the straying ones follow them," he said: "They are the disbelievers who follow the misguided ones among the jinn and mankind."

16050 - My father narrated to us: Muhammad ibn 'Imran ibn Abi Layla narrated to us: Bishr ibn 'Umarah al-Khath'ami narrated to us, from Abu Rawq, from al-Dahhak, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding His saying: "And the poets, the straying ones follow them," he said: "The misguided ones of the jinn."

16051 - Abu Sa'id al-Ashajj narrated to us: Waki' narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from Salamah, from 'Aqil, from 'Ikrimah, "And the poets, the straying ones follow them," he said: "The disobedient ones among the jinn."

The Second Interpretation:

16052 - 'Amr ibn Thawr al-Qaysari informed me in what he wrote to me: al-Firyabi narrated to us: Qays narrated to us,