On a Dog’s Tongue
Surah Al-A’raf (The Heights): Verses 175–176
“And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators. 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 attack/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.”
Here, the verb for “pant” denotes this idea of the tongue being stuck out — an awfully specific detail. What is Allah trying to tell us through it? I did some research and found out there are roughly two main reasons a dog might have its tongue stuck out.
Firstly, a dog may be engaging in some form of physical exertion and thus sticks its tongue out to cool itself off. It is its form of “sweating”, if you will. This is interesting because humans, on other hand, do “sweat.” That is, we produce water (ma’a tahoora), whose purity is paradisal in its nature. Water’s origin from the heavens reminds us of where we came and to where we will return: the Pure Garden. Hence, wudu before the prayer.
Thus, when a true man is attacked by the afflictions of the dunya, he simply sweats it off. Tribulation becomes a means of purification for him like wudu purifies one’s sins. However, when the dog is attacked (as it is in the first possibility of the parable), it is reduced to the ignoble position of having its tongue stuck out — not a very flattering way to appear. In the face of material contraction, the arrogant only humiliate themselves further.
Secondly, a dog’s tongue may be stuck out when it is in a state of utter relaxation (e.g. after a heavy meal). While the beleiver thanks God during times of blessing, the dog protrudes its tongue out, as if it only wants more. Further research revelaed to me that there is a disease amongst dogs called Hanging Out Tongue syndrome, where a dog can no longer retract its tongue back into its mouth. As a result, they are unable to moisten it, thereby leading to the development of blisters and other nasty symptoms on their tongue.
When I read this, the first thing that occurred to me was the hadith of our Prophet (SAW): “Keep your tongues moist with the dhikr of Allah.” SubhanAllah! To weild the tongue is to weild the heart. But the man whose heart is hard is like the dog. His tongue is humiliatingly stuck out and blocked from the true dhikr (remembrance) of Allah, in times of hardship and blessing. That precious faculty which Allah had bestowed upon him to sing His praise and seek his repentance becomes the source of his humiliation.
Beware: the man to whom Allah likens the dog was given “signs, but he detached himself from them.” Simply not being present around dogs (particularly, to my Hanafi peers), does not save us from the possibility of becoming one. May Allah allow us to use our tounges sincerely in His path alone— Ameen!
Disclaimer: I am not calling dog’s essentially bad. Indeed, dogs are a creation of Allah and He even mentions a noble one in Surah Al-Kahf. I am just highlighting how a spiritual condition of a human being can be likened to the akward appearance of a dog whose tongue is stuck out — as Allah does in this verse .
