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 ١٧٦
Wa law shiʾnā larafaʿnāhu bihā wa lākinnahū akhlada ilal-arḍi wattabaʿa hawāh, famathaluhū kamathalil-kalbi in taḥmil ʿalayhi yalhath aw tatrukhu yalhath, dhālika mathalul-qawmil-ladhīna kadhdhabū biʾāyātinā, faqṣuṣil-qaṣaṣa laʿallahum yatafakkarūn.
And if We had willed, We could have elevated him thereby,1 but he adhered [instead] to the earth2 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.3 So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought.
Translation: Sahih International
Footnotes (3)
- i.e., through the revelations, signs or evidences of which he had been given knowledge.
- i.e., its worldly pleasures.
- Whether or not they have been exposed to Allāh's signs or warnings, it is all the same: they will not believe.