An-Nahl
النحل
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِٱلْعَدْلِ وَٱلْإِحْسَـٰنِ وَإِيتَآئِ ذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱلْبَغْىِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
Translation
Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.
Tafsir (Commentary)
Ibn Mas'ud called this 'the most comprehensive verse in the Qur'an for good and evil.' In a single sentence, it establishes three divine commands — justice (adl), excellence (ihsan), and generosity to kin — and three prohibitions — immorality (fahsha), wrongdoing (munkar), and oppression (baghy). The Umayyad Caliph Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz ordered this verse to be recited at the end of every Friday sermon, a practice that continues across much of the Muslim world to this day.
Context of Revelation
Revealed in Mecca. This verse serves as a concise ethical charter for both personal conduct and social governance in Islam.