8563 - My father narrated to us, Musa ibn Ayyub al-Nasibi told us, Ja'far ibn Makhlad al-Shami narrated to me, from Damdam ibn Zur'ah, from Shurayh ibn 'Ubayd, from Abu al-Zahiriyah, regarding His statement: "but he adhered to the earth," he said: Iblis appeared to him while he was on his height on the bridge of Balinas, so the donkey prostrated to Allah, and Bal'am prostrated to Satan.
His statement, the Exalted: "to the earth"
8564 - 'Amr ibn Thawr al-Qaysari informed us in what he wrote to me, al-Firyabi told us, he said: Sufyan said regarding His statement: "but he adhered to the earth," [it means] to the worldly life.
His statement, the Exalted: "and followed his desire"
8565 - My father narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Bashshar al-'Abdi told us, Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Qattan told us, Sufyan told us, from Habib ibn Abi Thabit, from a man, from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr, [regarding] "but he adhered to the earth and followed his desire," he said: He is Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt.
8566 - Abu Yazid al-Qaratisi informed us in what he wrote to me, Asbagh told us, he said: I heard 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd saying regarding the statement of Allah: "and followed his desire," he said: His desire was with the people.
8567 - Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated to us, al-'Abbas ibn al-Walid told us, Yazid told us, from Sa'id, from Qatadah, regarding His statement: "but he adhered to the earth"—he refuses to be accompanied—"and followed his desire."
His statement, the Exalted: "so his parable is like the parable of the dog"
8568 - And through the same chain from Qatadah, regarding His statement: "so his parable is like the parable of the dog," he said: The parable of the disbeliever whose heart is dead, just as the heart of this dog is dead in all states.
His statement, the Exalted: "if you attack him, he pants, or if you leave him, he pants"
8569 - My father narrated to us, Abu Salih told us, Mu'awiyah ibn Salih narrated to me, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talhah, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding His statement: "if you attack him, he pants, or if you leave him, he pants," he said: If wisdom is loaded upon him, he does not bear it, and if he is left alone, he is not guided to good. He is like the dog; if he is crouching, he pants, and if he is chased away, he pants.
8570 - Hajjaj ibn Hamzah narrated to us, Shababah told us, Warqa' told us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid.
(1). Al-Tafsir, 1/251.