Surah Al-A'raf, Ayah 176
Quran 7:176 · The Heights · Makki · Para 9 · Page 173
وَلَوْ شِئْنَا لَرَفَعْنٰهُ بِهَا وَلٰكِنَّهٗۤ اَخْلَدَ اِلَی الْاَرْضِ وَاتَّبَعَ هَوٰىهُ ۚ فَمَثَلُهٗ كَمَثَلِ الْكَلْبِ ۚ اِنْ تَحْمِلْ عَلَیْهِ یَلْهَثْ اَوْ تَتْرُكْهُ یَلْهَثْ ؕ ذٰلِكَ مَثَلُ الْقَوْمِ الَّذِیْنَ كَذَّبُوْا بِاٰیٰتِنَا ۚ فَاقْصُصِ الْقَصَصَ لَعَلَّهُمْ یَتَفَكَّرُوْنَ ۟
Transliteration
Walaw shi/na larafaAAnahu bihawalakinnahu akhlada ila al-ardi wattabaAAahawahu famathaluhu kamathali alkalbi in tahmilAAalayhi yalhath aw tatruk-hu yalhath thalika mathalualqawmi allatheena kaththaboo bi-ayatinafaqsusi alqasasa laAAallahumyatafakkaroon
Saheeh International
And if We had willed, We could have elevated him thereby, but he adhered [instead] to the earth and followed his own desire. So his example is like that of the dog: if you chase him, he pants, or if you leave him, he [still] pants. That is the example of the people who denied Our signs. So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought.
Al-Mukhtasar fi Tafsir
If Allah had desired, He would have made this person benefit through these signs, enabling him to act according to them, so that he would be raised up in this world and in the next. But he chose what led to his failure, being attracted to the desires of the worldly life, and preferring them to the Afterlife. His example in his extreme greed for this world is like the example of a dog, which pants with its tongue constantly, whether it is resting or whether it is chased away. This example is the example of the people who are astray because of rejecting Allah’s signs. So relate the stories to them O Messenger so that they may think and reject their denial of the truth and their misguidance.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged)
Explains 7:175–7:177 together — read it on 7:175