And it was said to them, "Settle this town, and eat therein whatever you wish, and speak modestly, and enter the gate in humility—We will forgive your sins, and will promote the righteous."
But the wicked among them substituted other words for the words given to them; so We sent down upon them a plague from the sky, because of their wrongdoing.
Ask them about the town by the sea, when they violated the Sabbath. When they observed the Sabbath, their fish would come to them abundantly. But when they violated the Sabbath, their fish would not come to them. Thus We tried them because they disobeyed.
And when a group of them said, "Why do you counsel a people whom Allah will annihilate, or punish with a severe punishment?" They said, "As an excuse to your Lord, and so that they may become righteous."
Then, when they neglected what they were reminded of, We saved those who prohibited evil, and We seized those who did wrong with a terrible punishment, because of their sinfulness.
Then, when they rebelled against the commands to refrain, We said to them, "Be despicable apes."
Your Lord has announced that, He would send against them, until the Day of Resurrection, those who would inflict terrible suffering upon them. Your Lord is swift in retribution, yet He is Forgiving and Merciful.
And We scattered them into communities on earth. Some of them righteous, and some of them short of that. And We tested them with fortunes and misfortunes, so that they may return.
They were succeeded by generations who inherited the Scripture and chose the materials of this world, saying, "We will be forgiven." And should similar materials come their way, they would again seize them. Did they not make a covenant to uphold the Scripture, and to not say about Allah except the truth? Did they not study its contents? But the Home of the Hereafter is better for the cautious; will you not understand?
Those who adhere to the Scripture, and practice prayer—We will not waste the reward of the reformers.
