[1677] The verb used here is ʿaqarū as opposed to the most obvious word, which is usually used for such an action, naḥara. al-Biqāʿī (Naẓm al-Durar) distinguishes between the two in that naḥara as opposed to ʿaqara is to put an animal to the knife for a purposeful end, for example, to eat the meat or use the hide. However, ʿaqara is a pointless act of butchering. It is used to further highlight the magnitude of their contempt. The Arabic language authority, al-Farāhīdī (quoted in Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah) says that it means ‘to hamstring’.