The second view:

8462 - My father told us, Abu Salih told us, Mu'awiyah ibn Salih narrated to me, from 'Ali ibn Abi Talhah, from Ibn 'Abbas: "When the wrath of Allah befell them, the two groups were saved: those who said, 'Why do you advise a people whom Allah is to destroy?' and those who said, 'To be free from blame before your Lord.' And Allah destroyed the people of disobedience, those who took the fish, and He turned them into apes and swine."

His saying, the Almighty: "And We seized those who wronged."

8463 - My father told us, al-Hasan ibn al-Rabi' told us, 'Abd Allah ibn Idris told us, Muhammad ibn Ishaq told us, Dawud ibn al-Husayn narrated to me, from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding the saying of Allah: "And We seized those who wronged with a severe punishment"—he said: Those who had forbidden evil awoke one morning in their gathering places, searching for the people and seeing none of them, even though they had spent their night [in their homes] and had locked their houses. He said: They began to say, "The people have had a matter happen to them; go and see what their matter is." He said: So they looked into their houses and found that the people had been transformed within their houses. They would recognize a man by his own features, though he was an ape, and a woman by her own features, though she was an ape. Allah the Almighty said: "And We made it a deterrent to those who were present and those who were to succeed them, and a lesson for those who fear Allah."

His saying, the Almighty: "With a severe punishment."

8464 - Hajjaj ibn Hamzah told us, Shababah told us, Warqa' told us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid, regarding His saying: "With a severe punishment"—he said: Painful and severe.

Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Tahrani informed us, in what he wrote to me, 'Abd al-Razzaq informed us, he said: Ibn Jurayj said: A man narrated to me, from 'Ikrimah, from Ibn 'Abbas, regarding "with a severe punishment"—he said: Painful and grievous.

His saying, the Almighty: "So when they exceeded the limits of what they were forbidden from."

9199 - Hajjaj ibn Hamzah told us, 'Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Shaqiq informed us, al-Husayn ibn Waqid informed us, Yazid al-Nahwi told us, from 'Ikrimah, who said: "Exceeding the limits" (al-'atw) in the Book of Allah is arrogance (al-tajabbur).