وَإِذْ قَالَتْ أُمَّةٌ مِنْهُمْ لِمَ تَعِظُونَ قَوْمًا اللَّهُ مُهْلِكُهُمْ أَوْ مُعَذِّبُهُمْ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا قَالُوا مَعْذِرَةً إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ ﴿۱۶۴﴾ فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ أَنْجَيْنَا الَّذِينَ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ السُّوءِ وَأَخَذْنَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا بِعَذَابٍ بَئِيسٍ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ ﴿۱۶۵﴾ فَلَمَّا عَتَوْا عَنْ مَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ قُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا قِرَدَةً خَاسِئِينَ ﴿۱۶۶﴾ وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكَ لَيَبْعَثَنَّ عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ مَنْ يَسُومُهُمْ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَسَرِيعُ الْعِقَابِ وَإِنَّهُ لَغَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ﴿۱۶۷﴾

﴾164﴿ Wa iz qaalat ummatum minhum lima ta'izoona qaw manil laahu muhlikuhum aw mu'azzibuhum 'azaaban shadeedan qaaloo ma'ziratan ilaa Rabbikum wa la'allahum yattaqoon
﴾165﴿ Falammaa nasoo maa zukkiroo bihee anjainal lazeena yanhawna 'anis sooo'i wa akhaznal lazeena zalamoo bi'azaabim ba'eesim bimaa kaanoo yafsuqoon
﴾166﴿ Falammaa 'ataw 'ammaa nuhoo 'anhu qulna lahum koonoo qiradatan khaasi'een
﴾167﴿ Wa iz ta azzana Rabbuka la yab'asannna 'alaihim ilaa Yawmil Qiyaamati mai yasoomuhum sooo'al 'azaab; inna Rabbaka lasaree'ul 'iqaabi wa innahoo la Ghafoorur Raheem

﴾164﴿ And when a group of them said, why do you advise a people whom Allah Almighty will destroy or will He punish them with a severe punishment? They said to make an excuse to your Lord And it is hoped that they will be saved
﴾165﴿ So when they forgot what was revealed to them, We saved those who forbade evil And We seized those who did wrong with a severe punishment because of what they used to disobey
﴾166﴿ So when they disobeyed what they were forbidden, We told them to turn them into apes, humiliated
﴾167﴿ And when he declared, Your Lord will surely send upon them until the Day of Resurrection Whoever inflicts a bad punishment on them indeed Your Lord is swift in punishment, and indeed He is Forgiving, Merciful

[164] This verse indicates that the people divided into three groups:
1. One group actively prohibited the use of this deceptive trick (ḥīlah).
2. A second group criticized the first group for advising and warning others, essentially telling them not to bother delivering the message. To this, the first group responded with two reasons for their warning:
The first benefit is fulfilling their responsibility—so that Allah Most High lifts this duty from them.
The second benefit is the hope that the people may take heed and refrain from their sin.
3. The third group were those who committed the trick themselves.
In verse 163, the tricksters are mentioned directly.
In verse 164, the second group is explicitly mentioned—those who discouraged preaching.
And the third group (the preachers) are mentioned indirectly in the form of their reply and reasoning.
[165] This verse indicates that only the first group—the ones who actively forbade the wrongdoing—were saved from punishment. The second group also received a severe punishment, though the exact nature of it is known only to Allah Most High.
Therefore, in this verse, (الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا) refers to the second group (those who discouraged preaching).
This opinion is narrated by Qurtubi from Ibn Abbas, although there is also another narration from him with a differing view.
[166] In this verse, the punishment of the third group is mentioned—those who actually committed the trick (ḥīlah). Their sin was greater than that of the second group, as indicated by the use of the word (عَتَوْا), meaning rebellion or defiant disobedience. Accordingly, their punishment was more severe.
Benefit: Since trickery in religious matters results in the distortion (maskh) of the religion itself, the punishment given to them was also maskh (transformation into animals), reflecting the appropriateness and correlation between the sin and its punishment.
[167] In this verse, there is a worldly warning (tarhīb dunyawī) for those who alter the religion of Allah Most High through trickery and other means. Such people will be subjected to rulers who will humiliate them and impose the jizyah (tax) upon them.