سورة الأعراف، الآية ١٦٦
فَلَمَّا عَتَوْا۟ عَن مَّا نُهُوا۟ عَنْهُ قُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا۟ قِرَدَةً خَٰسِـِٔينَ ١٦٦
falammā ʿataw ʿan mā nuhū ʿanhu qul'nā lahum kūnū qiradatan khāsiīna
So when they were insolent about that which they had been forbidden, We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
Verse 166 of Surah Al-A’raf (7:166), a Meccan surah, is in juz 9, on page 172 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 72 reciters.
78 recitations by 72 reciters: pick one and it plays in the player.
When they overstepped the limits, rebelling against Allah out of pride and stubbornness, and they would not be advised, Allah told them: 'O you disobedient ones! Be you monkeys, humiliated!' So they became what He willed, because when He wills something He only says to it ‘Be!’ and it is.
When they persistently violated what they were forbidden to do, We said to them, “Be despised apes64.”
[64] Their deed was deceptive, only outwardly resembling observance of Allah’s commands. As such, Allah turned them into apes, only outwardly resembling humans, but were actually far apart from real humans.
So when they exceeded the limits of what they were prohibited, We said to them: "Be you monkeys, despised and rejected."13
[13] (V.7:166) It is a severe warning to the mankind that they should not disobey what Allâh commands them to do, and keep far away from what He prohibits them.*
* See the footnote of (V.9: 112).
So when they took pride in that which they had been forbidden, We said unto them: Be ye apes despised and loathed!
When in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected."
Therefore when they revoltingly persisted in what they had been forbidden, We said to them: Be (as) apes, despised and hated.
Then as soon as they rebelled against what they had been forbidden to do, We said to them, "Be you apes, (totally) spurned!".
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱعْتَدَوْا۟ مِنكُمْ فِى ٱلسَّبْتِ فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا۟ قِرَدَةً خَٰسِـِٔينَ
And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath, and We said to them, "Be apes, despised."
