وَكَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ ﴿۱۷۴﴾ وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ الَّذِي آتَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا فَانْسَلَخَ مِنْهَا فَأَتْبَعَهُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْغَاوِينَ ﴿۱۷۵﴾ وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَرَفَعْنَاهُ بِهَا وَلَكِنَّهُ أَخْلَدَ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ الْكَلْبِ إِنْ تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْهِ يَلْهَثْ أَوْ تَتْرُكْهُ يَلْهَثْ ذَلِكَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا فَاقْصُصِ الْقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ ﴿۱۷۶﴾ سَاءَ مَثَلًا الْقَوْمُ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَأَنْفُسَهُمْ كَانُوا يَظْلِمُونَ ﴿۱۷۷﴾

﴾174﴿ Wa kazaalika nufassilul Aayaati wa la'allahum yarji'oon
﴾175﴿ Watlu 'alaihim naba allazeee aatainaahu Aayaatinaa fansalakha minhaa fa atba'a hush Shaytaanoo fakaana minal ghaaween
﴾176﴿ Wa law shi'naa larafa'naahu bihaa wa laakin nahooo akhlada ilal ardi wattaba'a hawaah; famasaluhoo kamasalil kalbi in tahmil 'alaihi yalhas aw tatruk hu yalhas; zaalika masalul qawmil lazeena kazzaboo bi Aayaatinaa; faqsusil qasasa la'allahum yatafakkaroon
﴾177﴿ Saaa'a masalanil qawmul lazeena kazzaboo bi Aayaatinaa wa anfusahum kaanoo yazlimoon

﴾174﴿ And thus do We explain the verses in detail (for their remembrance) and that they may return (to the truth)
﴾175﴿ And tell them the story of him to whom We gave knowledge of Our verses, but he turned away from it, so Satan followed him, so he became one of the astray
﴾176﴿ And if We had willed, We would certainly have raised his rank because of his action on the signs, but He ended up in the world and he followed his desires, so his condition is like that of a dog: if you attack him, he will stick out his tongue, or if you let him, he will stick out his tongue This is the example of a people who denied Our verses, so explain this explanation so that they may reflect
﴾177﴿ Evil is the example of the people who denied Our signs and wronged themselves

[174] This verse is also an emphasis on what came before it—it means that the detailed explanation of the signs (āyāt) serves to remove ignorance and turn people away from blind imitation (taqlīd).
[175] This is the fourth refutation of their claim: If you were truly forgiven, then how is it that one of your scholars, due to his evil actions, became like a dog?
It has been reported from many noble Companions that this scholar was Bal‘am ibn Bā‘ūrā’, a very knowledgeable man who had twelve thousand students attending his gatherings. He used to call people toward faith, but when a king of that time offered him wealth, he was overcome by greed. As a result, he opposed Musa (peace be upon him) and turned away from the Torah.
It is also said that he was the first person in this world to write a book promoting the belief that the world has no Creator—that it is eternal (qadīm).
(فَانْسَلَخَ مِنْهَا) – Insilākh originally means to peel or shed the skin off an animal, like a snake shedding its skin. Here, it means he completely detached himself from the Book of Allah—both in belief and in practice.
(فَأَتْبَعَهُ الشَّيْطَانُ) – The word ittibā‘ (to follow) here implies attachment and close pursuit, meaning the devil clung to him in order to misguide him persistently.
[176] (لَوْ شِئْنَا) – This points to the fact that guidance is entirely in the control of Allah Most High.
(لَرَفَعْنَاهُ بِهَا) – This means that through belief in and acting upon the Book of Allah, a person gains honor and elevated rank.
In this verse, two major sins of that scholar are mentioned:
1. Love for the world – implied in (أَخْلَدَ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ), where akhlada includes both inclination and attachment.
2. Following desires – this, along with the first, forms the root of all sins.
He was compared to a dog in its panting (lahth), which refers to when a dog sticks out its tongue, moves its mouth, and pants continuously. This is the dog's condition whether it is driven away or left alone.
Likewise, that scholar became such that whether he was given advice or not, it did not remove his disgrace and spiritual fall.
(إِنْ تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْهِ...‏) – The comparison is not to dogs in general, but specifically to one that pants constantly (lāhiṯ). Therefore, trained dogs (like hunting dogs) are not included in this comparison.
(كَمَثَلِ الْكَلْبِ) – There are two interpretations:
3. Literal: that he physically began to resemble a panting dog (i.e., his tongue literally hung out).
4. Figurative: that this is a comparison of his state—lahth here represents extreme greed for the world and gluttony.
Note: The commentators have written that this example also applies to the scholars of this Ummah who abandon acting upon the Qur’an and Sunnah, and become entangled in disbelief, shirk, innovations, and desires due to their love of the world and pursuit of its gains. Such a person resembles the dog in several ways:
1. Just as a dog barks at someone but becomes silent if a bit of food is thrown to it, likewise these people speak out—until their worldly interests are satisfied.
2. A dog attacks even its own kind—similarly, such people turn against fellow believers.
3. A dog licks up its own vomit—this is likened, in a hadith of Bukhari, to someone who gives charity or a gift and then takes it back.
4. When a dog urinates, it lifts its leg and soils clean objects like bushes or stones—trying to avoid soiling itself. This reflects extreme greed and miserliness: harming others to protect oneself.
All these traits point to intense greed, selfishness, and disgrace.
(يَتَفَكَّرُونَ) – ʿAllāmah Ṭayyibī wrote that if one reflects upon the corrupt religious leaders of our time, one would find them even worse than Bal‘am.
[177] This indicates the generality and severity of the condemnation expressed through this example.