Translation of the meanings Ayah 176 Surah Al-A‘rāf - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary (in progress) - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

176 : 7

وَلَوۡ شِئۡنَا لَرَفَعۡنَٰهُ بِهَا وَلَٰكِنَّهُۥٓ أَخۡلَدَ إِلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُۚ فَمَثَلُهُۥ كَمَثَلِ ٱلۡكَلۡبِ إِن تَحۡمِلۡ عَلَيۡهِ يَلۡهَثۡ أَوۡ تَتۡرُكۡهُ يَلۡهَثۚ ذَّٰلِكَ مَثَلُ ٱلۡقَوۡمِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَاۚ فَٱقۡصُصِ ٱلۡقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

(176) Had We wished, We would have elevated him by ˹means of˺ them^[1820], but he stuck to the ground and followed his desire^[1821]. His example is that of a dog, when you chase it away, it pants and ˹even˺ when you leave it, it pants^[1822]. That is the example of the people who denied Our Signs; so recount ˹Muhammad˺ the stories perchance they may ponder.

[1820] Knowledge is not enough to elevate a person and nurture his spirit but following the Truth, choosing it over everything else and seeking God’s Pleasure do just that (cf. Ibn al-Qayyim, Iʿlām al-Muwaqqiʿīn, 1/129).
[1821] Akhlada ilā al-arḍ means that he preferred the joys and riches of this lowly life to that of the Hereafter, thus following his lusts and vain desires (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[1822] It is part of a dog’s nature to pant whether it is being chased away or not. Such is the degrading parable that God draws of this kind of person who ˹pants after˺ this worldly life; no matter whether he is admonished or not, he will not change (cf. Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “Indeed the Deniers, whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not Believe. *Allah has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes there is a veil—theirs is a grievous Punishment” (2: 6-7).