And question them concerning the township which was bordering the sea, when they transgressed the Sabbath, when their fish came to them on the day of their Sabbath, swimming shorewards, but on the day they kept not Sabbath, they came not unto them. Even so We were trying them for their ungodliness. 163 And when a community among them said: Why preach ye to a folk whom Allah is about to destroy or punish with an awful doom, they said: In order to be free from guilt before your Lord, and that haply they may ward off (evil). 164 So when they forgot the remindings that had been given to them, We rescued those who forbade evil, but We seized those who did wrong with a severe torment because they used to rebel (disobey Allah). 165 Therefore when they revoltingly persisted in what they had been forbidden, We said to them: Be (as) apes, despised and hated. 166 And recall when Your Lord proclaimed that 'He would continually set in authority over them, till the Day of Judgement, those who would ruthless oppress thern.' Surely, your Lord is swift in chastising; and yet He is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful. 167 And We cut them up on the earth into parties, (some) of them being righteous and (others) of them falling short of that, and We tried them with blessings and misfortunes that they might turn. 168 Then others succeeded them who inherited the scriptures, and yet kept themselves occupied in acquiring the goods of this world and kept saying: 'We shall be forgiven.' And when there comes to them an opportunity for acquiring more of those goods, they seize it. Was not the covenant of the Book taken from them that they would not ascribe to Allah anything but the truth? And they have read what is in the Book and know that the abode of the Hereafter is better for the God-fearing. Do you not understand? 169 And those who hold fast to the Book, and perform the prayer -- surely We leave not to waste the wage of those who set aright. 170 ۞ And when We shook the mountain above them as if it were a canopy, and they supposed it was about to fall on them: 'Take forcefully what We have given you, and remember what is in it; haply you will be godfearing.' 171