وَإِذۡ

قِيلَ

لَهُمُ

ٱسۡكُنُواْ

هَٰذِهِ

ٱلۡقَرۡيَةَ

وَكُلُواْ

مِنۡهَا

حَيۡثُ

شِئۡتُمۡ

وَقُولُواْ

حِطَّةٞ

وَٱدۡخُلُواْ

ٱلۡبَابَ

سُجَّدٗا

نَّغۡفِرۡ

لَكُمۡ

خَطِيٓـَٰٔتِكُمۡۚ

سَنَزِيدُ

ٱلۡمُحۡسِنِينَ

١٦١

And ˹remember˺ when it was said to them, “Enter this city ˹of Jerusalem˺ and eat from wherever you please. Say, ‘Absolve us,’ and enter the gate with humility. We will forgive your sins, ˹and˺ We will multiply the reward for the good-doers.”

But the wrongdoers among them changed the words they were commanded to say. So We sent down a punishment from the heavens upon them for their wrongdoing.

Ask them ˹O Prophet˺ about ˹the people of˺ the town which was by the sea, who broke the Sabbath.¹ During the Sabbath, ˹abundant˺ fish would come to them clearly visible, but on other days the fish were never seen. In this way We tested them for their rebelliousness.

When some of ˹the righteous among˺ them questioned ˹their fellow Sabbath-keepers˺, “Why do you ˹bother to˺ warn those ˹Sabbath-breakers˺ who will either be destroyed or severely punished by Allah?” They replied, “Just to be free from your Lord’s blame, and so perhaps they may abstain.”

When they ignored the warning they were given, We rescued those who used to warn against evil and overtook the wrongdoers with a dreadful punishment for their rebelliousness.

But when they stubbornly persisted in violation, We said to them, “Be disgraced apes!”¹ 

And ˹remember, O  Prophet,˺ when your Lord declared that He would send against them others who would make them suffer terribly until the Day of Judgment. Indeed, your Lord is swift in punishment, but He is certainly All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

We dispersed them through the land in groups—some were righteous, others were less so. We tested them with prosperity and adversity, so perhaps they would return ˹to the Right Path˺.

Then they were succeeded by other generations who inherited the Scripture. They indulged in unlawful gains, claiming, “We will be forgiven ˹after all˺.” And if similar gain came their way, they would seize it. Was a covenant not taken from them in the Scripture that they would not say anything about Allah except the truth? And they were already well-versed in its teachings. But the ˹eternal˺ Home of the Hereafter is far better for those mindful ˹of Allah˺. Will you not then understand?

As for those who firmly abide by the Scripture and establish prayer—surely We never discount the reward of those acting righteously.