65وَلَقَد عَلِمتُمُ الَّذينَ اعتَدَوا مِنكُم فِي السَّبتِ فَقُلنا لَهُم كونوا قِرَدَةً خاسِئينَMir AneesuddinAnd you surely know those among you who exceeded the limits of the Sabbath, so We said to them, “Be apes, looked down upon1.”Sabbath: During the period of prophet Dawood some Israelites dwelt at Elath on the Red Sea. Israelites were ordered not to fish on Sabbath (Saturday) as a mark of respect, but the fish used to come in great numbers to the shore on the night of Saturday and stay there throughout Sabbath to tempt them. Some inhabitants dug ditches and cut canals from the sea for the fish to enter on Sabbath, then they prevented them from going back to the sea by disconnecting the ditches and canals. Thus they removed the fish on Sunday. They claimed that the fish had gathered on Friday and were caught on Sunday, not Saturday. Therefore as a mark of punishment they were transformed into apes.