Was God's transformation of the Sabbath-breakers a physical or a spiritual transformation?

Allah transformed the people of the Sabbath into apes and pigs in form and characteristics, due to their transgression against Allah's prohibition. The evidence for this is His saying, the Most High: "So when they rebelled against that which they had been forbidden, We said to them, 'Be apes, despised!'"

Further confirming that the transformation was physical, not metaphorical, is what Ibn Jarir narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: "Their youth became apes and their elders became pigs." And what Muslim narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Indeed, Allah has never destroyed a people or punished a people and then made offspring for them. And the apes and pigs existed before that."

This indicates that the transformation was real, and that the apes and pigs existing today are not their descendants, because the transformed are not given offspring.