And ask them about the town which stood by the sea; when they exceeded the limits of the Sabbath, when their fish came to them on the day of their Sabbath, appearing on the surface of the water, and on the day on which they did not keep the Sabbath they did not come to them; thus did We try them because they transgressed. 163 When a Section of them said: "Why do you admonish a people whom God is about to destroy or to punish severely?" They replied: "To clear ourselves of blame before your Lord, and that they may fear God. 164 But when they forgot to remember the warning, We saved those who prohibited evil, but inflicted on the wicked a dreadful punishment -- requital for their disobedience. 165 Therefore when they revoltingly persisted in what they had been forbidden, We said to them: Be (as) apes, despised and hated. 166 (Muhammad), consider, when your Lord declared to the (Israelites) His decision to raise a people above them who would make them suffer the worst kinds of torments until the Day of Judgment. Certainly your Lord's retribution is swift. He is All-forgiving and All-merciful. 167 We dispersed them through the earth in nations some were righteous, others were not, and tested them with good and evil in order that they return. 168 Then there came after them an evil posterity who inherited the Book, taking only the frail good of this low life and saying: It will be forgiven us. And if the like good came to them, they would take it (too). Was not a promise taken from them in the Book that they would not speak anything about Allah but the truth, and they have read what is in it; and the abode of the hereafter is better for those who guard (against evil). Do you not then understand? 169 As for those who adhere to the Book and are firm in devotion, We shall certainly not let the wages of those who are upright to go waste. 170 ۞ And [did We not say,] when We caused Mount Sinai to quake above the children of Israel as though it were a [mere] shadow, and they thought that it would fall upon them, "Hold fast with [all your] strength unto what We have vouchsafed you, and bear in mind all that is therein, so that you might remain conscious of God"? 171