Qafr describes land without meaningful habitation, water, or growth; qaṭaʿtuhu asserts that the speaker has crossed it. Al-dhiʾb is the wolf and yaʿwī its characteristic howl, a sound that receives special emphasis in the scene.
Khalīʿ evokes a man disowned or cast off by his people. Muʿayyal describes someone carrying the burden of dependents. Together they evoke isolation, obligation, and poverty.
The comparison between wolf and human does not depend on similar physical appearance. Their point of resemblance is the quality of the cry and the helplessness it implies. The animal remains a wolf, but its howling resonates with the suffering of an excluded person.