Opening the ayah…
وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَاعِرٍۢ ۚ قَلِيلًۭا مَّا تُؤْمِنُونَ
Wa mā huwa biqaw'li shāʻirin . qalīlan mmā tu''minūna
It is not the word of a poet: little it is ye believe!
Translation: Abdullah Yusuf Ali
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4-I guide
It is not the words of a poet, yet how little they believe!
Start with bismillah.
Say a short rhyme together. Ask: "What makes a poem a poem?"
Watch the Maggie Bell Teaching video Writing Poetry for Kids - Episode 1: What is it?
Now listen to the ayah together in the app, with the translation. Ask: "What do some people wrongly call the Quran?"
Each child keeps one wonder question, for example: "How is the Quran different from any poem?" Younger children can draw theirs.
Find it in the mushaf: Surah Al-Haqqah is surah 69. Find ayah 41. The key words bi-qawli sha'ir mean the speech of a poet. The Arabs loved poetry and held contests. Some called the Prophet a poet, but the Quran is not poetry: it's the word of Allah, unlike anything people wrote.
Fact: What is rhythm in a poem?
Ages 5–8: Clap the beat. Clap along to a nursery rhyme, then listen to a short surah. How are they different?
Ages 9–12: Poem or Quran? List three ways the Quran differs from poems you know.
Finish with: "I found that rhythm in a poem is ___."
Talk together:
Make a small plan: "This week, I will recite slowly and beautifully."
Action: Recite slowly and beautifully.
