Translation of the meanings Ayah 77 Surah Al-A‘rāf - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 77

فَعَقَرُواْ ٱلنَّاقَةَ وَعَتَوۡاْ عَنۡ أَمۡرِ رَبِّهِمۡ وَقَالُواْ يَٰصَٰلِحُ ٱئۡتِنَا بِمَا تَعِدُنَآ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ ٱلۡمُرۡسَلِينَ

(77) They then slayed^[1677] the she-camel, insolently rebelled against their Lord’s Command and said: “Ṣāliḥ, bring down on us what you promise us if ˹only˺ you are ˹truly˺ one of the ones who were sent ˹the Messengers˺”!”

[1677] The verb used here is ʿaqarū as opposed to the most obvious word, which is usually used for such an action, naḥara. al-Biqāʿī (Naẓm al-Durar) distinguishes between the two in that naḥara as opposed to ʿaqara is to put an animal to the knife for a purposeful end, for example, to eat the meat or use the hide. However, ʿaqara is a pointless act of butchering. It is used to further highlight the magnitude of their contempt. The Arabic language authority, al-Farāhīdī (quoted in Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah) says that it means ‘to hamstring’.