Al-A'raf 7:166

<h2>Those Who breached the Sabbath were turned into Monkeys, butThose Who prohibited Their Actions were saved</h2><p>Allah said that the people of this village were divided into three groups, a group that committed the prohibition, catching fish on the Sabbath, as we described in the Tafsir of Surat Al-Baqarah. Another group prohibited them from transgression and avoided them. A third group neither prohibited them, nor participated in their action. The third group said to the preachers, </p><div class="arabic uthmani">لِمَ تَعِظُونَ قَوْمًا اللَّهُ مُهْلِكُهُمْ أَوْ مُعَذِّبُهُمْ عَذَاباً شَدِيدًا</div><p>("Why do you preach to a people whom Allah is about to destroy or to punish with a severe torment"). They said, `why do you forbid these people from evil, when you know that they are destroyed and have earned Allah's punishment' Therefore, they said, there is no benefit in forbidding them. The preachers replied, </p><div class="arabic uthmani">مَعْذِرَةً إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ</div><p>("In order to be free from guilt before your Lord (Allah),") `for we were commanded to enjoin righteousness and forbid evil,' r </p><div class="arabic uthmani">وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ</div><p>("and perhaps they may fear Allah") for on account of our advice, they might stop this evil and repent to Allah. Certainly, if they repent to Allah, Allah will accept their …

So when they took pride in that which they had been forbidden, We said unto them: Be ye apes despised and loathed!

When in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected."

So when they exceeded the limits of what they were prohibited, We said to them: "Be you monkeys, despised and rejected." (It is a severe warning to the mankind that they should not disobey what Allah commands them to do, and be far away from what He prohibits them).

Then, when they rebelled against the commands to refrain, We said to them, “Be despicable apes.”