ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ فَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ لَكُنْتُمْ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ ﴿64﴾ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ الَّذِينَ اعْتَدَوْا مِنْكُمْ فِي السَّبْتِ فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ ﴿65﴾ فَجَعَلْنَاهَا نَكَالًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهَا وَمَا خَلْفَهَا وَمَوْعِظَةً لِلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿66﴾

﴾64﴿ Summa tawallaitum mim ba'di zaalika falawlaa fadlul laahi 'alaikum wa rahmatuhoo lakuntum minal khaasireen
﴾65﴿ Wa laqad 'alimtumul lazeena'-tadaw minkum fis Sabti faqulnaa lahum koonoo qiradatan khaasi'een
﴾66﴿ Faja'alnaahaa nakaalal limaa baina yadaihaa wa maa khalfahaa wa maw'izatal lilmuttaqeen

﴾64﴿ But then you turned away after this covenant, so if it had not been for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would surely have been among the ruined
﴾65﴿ And indeed, you are well aware of those among you who transgressed (the limits of the law) on the Sabbath, so We said to them, “Be apes, despised and humiliated.”
﴾66﴿ So We made this incident a lesson for those who were present at that time and for those who came after, and a reminder for the God-fearing (of this Ummah).

[64] In this verse, their breach of covenant is mentioned. The favor of Allah refers to Him granting respite from punishment. His mercy refers to granting some individuals the ability to repent. This could refer to their leaders, or the intended meaning of favor and mercy may be the sending of the Qur’an and the final Messenger to their descendants, so they may believe. Al-khāsirīn (the losers) refers to destruction—either through worldly punishment or Hellfire.
[65] This verse mentions another act of betrayal on their part—deception (ḥīlah)—which is of two types: Deceiving in order to obtain forbidden things, which is the incident referred to here. Deceiving to avoid obligatory duties—for example, the trick they attempted in the matter of slaughtering the cow, which is alluded to here and detailed in verse 163 of Surah Al-Aʿrāf. This verse is a clear proof that using deception in the commands of Allah to make the unlawful appear lawful is not permissible—such as the widespread deceptions practiced today to avoid religious obligations. For more on this, refer to Aḥsan al-Kalām. This indicates that ḥīlah (deception) is a form of iʿtidāʾ (transgression). (Fī as-sabt) refers to the Sabbath day, or the obligation to honor it. (Qiradatan khāsiʾīn) – This transformation was real; their facial appearance and heads became like apes, though other human traits remained. They understood this to be a punishment. (Khāsiʾīn) means to be humiliated and despised by others and to be driven away from society.
[66] Nakāl refers to a punishment that serves as a deterrent—meaning, it prevents the repetition of such an act, so that the sanctity of the Sabbath is not violated again. This was specifically for the Children of Israel. Mawʿiẓah means a warning against similar forms of deception.