The Sun

Chapter 91: The Sun
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
By the sun and his morning brightness,
by the moon as she follows him,
by the day which reveals it splendour,
by the night when it enshrouds him,
by the heaven and its construction,
by the earth and its spreading,
by the soul and its moulding,
and inspiration with knowledge of wickedness and piety.
Successful is the one who keeps it pure,
and ruined is the one who corrupts it.
In their insolence the people of Thamoud denied the truth,
when their most wretched broke forth.
The Messenger of Allah said to them:
"The she-camel of Allah, let her have her drink".
They cried lies to him, and hamstrung her.
For that sin their Lord let loose His scourge upon themm,
and razed their city to the ground.
He fear not what may follow.

As with chapter 22, Allah starts this chapter with mentions of the natural phenomena He created. These are often repeated throughout the Quran to serve as reminder for mankind of the signs of His existence and His rule. It begs the question - surely life on earth cannot be purely out of coincidence? And that, surely life on earth is then not left to chances or without guidance or control? The chapter moves on to state the basic truth about man - "by the soul and its moulding and inspiration with knowledge of wickedness and piety. Successful is the one who keeps it pure, and ruined is the one who corrupts it." - in that man is just as capable of recognising the good as he is of recognising the evil in everything he encounters. Man is equally capable of directing himself one way or the other. This dual ability is deeply ingrained within him. All external factors, like Divine messages, only serve to awaken his potential and help it take its chosen way. In other words, these factors do not create this potential, which is innate; they only help it develop. In addition to his innate ability, man is equipped with a conscious faculty which determines his line of actions and is, therefore, responsible for his actions and decisions. He who uses this faculty to strengthen his inclinations to what is good and to purify himself and to weaken the evil drive within him will be prosperous and successfull; while he who uses this faculty to surpress the good tendency in him will ruin himself. The chapters followed on with an example of Thamoud people who disobeyed Allah's ruling and was punished by it. In this chapter, only a cursory story of the Thamoud people was given. This example is used multiple time throughout the Qur'an, one is in chapter 89 (the Dawn).

Summarised from Sayyid Qutb's In the Shade of the Qur'an vol.30 translation by M.A. Salahi, A.A. Shamis (1979) Redwood Burn Ltd.

Please note that the Quran is to be read in Arabic as stated in the Quran itself (i dont remember the verse) - as even the best translation cannot provide the meaning of some of the arabic words/style/connotation used in the Quran. This has to be kept in mind when reading translation of the quran.