Is it true that those who were transformed in the story of the People of the Sabbath died after three days?

Transmutation (Maskh) is the distortion and alteration of creation. It occurred as a punishment for the Children of Israel because of their deceit concerning Allah's command, so Allah transmuted them into despised apes, as mentioned in Surat Al-A'raf.

This punishment will befall some groups from the Ummah of Muhammad (peace be upon him), as the Prophet foretold the transmutation of people into apes and swine until the Day of Judgment, due to their legalization of prohibitions.

Scholars differed on whether a transmuted being (mamsukh) can procreate or if Allah destroys it. The preponderant view is that it does not procreate or leave offspring; rather, Allah Almighty destroys it, based on the Prophet's (peace be upon him) hadith: "Indeed, Allah did not make for a transmuted being any offspring or progeny. Apes and swine existed before that."

As for specifying the duration of a transmuted being's existence as three days before its destruction, no Marfu' hadith from the Prophet (peace be upon him) has been authentically reported concerning it. Rather, a Mawquf narration from Ibn Abbas, with a weak chain of transmission, has been reported.