The Heights
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[7:166]
and then, when they disdainfully persisted in doing what they had been forbidden to do, We said unto them: "Be as apes despicable!"

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* v.166 : According to Zamakhsharī and Rāzī, the expression “We said unto them” is here synonymous with “We decreed with regard to them” – God’s “saying” being in this case a metonym for a manifestation of His will. As for the substance of God’s decree, “Be as apes despicable,” the famous tābi‘ī Mujāhid explain it thus: “[Only] their hearts were transformed, that is, they were not [really] transformed into apes: this is but a metaphor (mathal) coined by God with regard to them, similar to the metaphor of ‘the ass carrying books’ (62:5)” (Tabarī, in his commentary on 2:65; also Manār I, 343; VI, 448; and IX, 379). A similar explanation is given by Rāghib. It should be borne in mind that the expression “like an ape” is often used in classical Arabic to describe a person who is unable to restrain his gross appetites or passions.