Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2852
حَدَّثَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ عُثْمَانَ بْنِ عِيسَى الرَّمْلِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَمِّي، يَحْيَى بْنُ عِيسَى الرَّمْلِيُّ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " لأَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ جَوْفُ أَحَدِكُمْ قَيْحًا يَرِيهُ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَمْتَلِئَ شِعْرًا " . وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ سَعْدٍ وَابْنِ عُمَرَ وَأَبِي الدَّرْدَاءِ وَأَبِي سَعِيدٍ . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, ‘It would be better for one of you to have his insides filled with pus that eats away at him than to have them filled with poetry.’ Reports from Sa‘d, Ibn ‘Umar, Abu al-Darda’, and Abu Sa‘id are also cited on this topic. Abu ‘Isa graded this hadith hasan sahih.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic literally compares a belly filled with pus that corrodes its insides with one filled with poetry; the warning is against poetry of a blameworthy kind, in context with the reports permitting praise-worthy poetry.