سورة الأنبياء

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): وَ نَضَعُ المَوَازِینَ الْقِسْطَ لِیَوْمِ الْقِیَامَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَیْئًا [And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least]; what is meant by it is the prophets and the awsiya (successors, peace be upon them).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): [regarding] وَ نَضَعُ المَوَازِینَ الْقِسْطَ لِیَوْمِ الْقِیَامَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَیْئًا [And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least]; what is meant by it is the prophets and the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Sa'd ibn Tarif said: I asked, "O Imam Baqir (peace be upon him)! What is 'the balance'?" He said: "The balance (the scale for weighing deeds) is us, and that is the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic concerning the Imam [where He says]: لِیَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ [So that the people may uphold justice]. (al-Hadid/25)"

Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him): As for the verse وَ نَضَعُ المَوَازِینَ الْقِسْطَ لِیَوْمِ الْقِیَامَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَیْئًا [And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least], it is the very balance of justice by which people will be called to account on the Day of Resurrection, and by it Allah takes people's rights from one another, gives them the reward of their deeds, and takes retribution for the wronged from the wrongdoers.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Sinan narrates: A man asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and said: 'Are our deeds weighed?' He said: 'No, our deeds are not a body, and what is meant by weighing is the quality of people's deeds. Certainly, only the one who does not know the number of things and is unaware of their heaviness or lightness needs to weigh things, whereas nothing is hidden from Allah the Blessed and Exalted.' He asked: 'Then what is the meaning of the balance (mizan)?' He said: 'Justice.' He said: 'Then what is its meaning in the expression فَمَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِینُهُ [as for him whose scales are heavy] (Mu'minun/102)?' His Eminence (peace be upon him) said: 'Whoever's deed is superior.'

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Allah gathers all people on a single level plain, and the earth is stretched out and expanded to the measure of its current size, and while the people are standing, suddenly they sense from above their heads the sound of something falling. Then they lift up their heads and see that the sky has been split open and the angels have descended, and they say: "Is our Lord among you?" — and their number is greater than the number of the people of the earth. Then they say: "He is coming." Then the sky is split open a second time and angels more numerous than those we mentioned descend. Then the people come towards them and say: "Is our Lord among you?" They answer: "Allah, the Mighty and the Exalted, is coming." And he continues the hadith until this part: at that moment the shin is uncovered and hearts throb and eyes stare, and the herald of Allah, the eternal Creator and Bestower, calls out: "O people! Today you shall know who the generous ones are. Where are those who used to praise Allah in every state?" A small group rises up and enters Paradise without reckoning. Then a second herald calls out: "Where are those whom no trade or sale distracted from the remembrance of Allah? (Nur/37)." Then a small group rises up and enters Paradise without reckoning. Then a third herald arises and says: "Where are those whose sides shunned their beds, calling upon their Lord in fear and hope, and spending of what We had provided for them? (Sajdah/16)." A small number rise up and enter Paradise without reckoning. Then a black neck comes out from the Fire, which has two eyes with which it sees and one tongue with which it speaks. It comes up above the people's heads and speaks with a voice that all can hear. It says: "O people! Today I am charged with dealing with those people who claimed that there was another god along with Allah." Then it picks them out from among the ranks and casts them into Hell, just as birds pick up seeds scattered on the ground. Then it goes out and calls: "Today I am charged with dealing with the image-makers (those who make figures and painters)." Then it takes them up and throws them into the Fire, and after that it goes out and says: "Today I am charged with those people who used to say: Allah has a consort and a child." Then it throws them into the Fire. After the people of Paradise have gone to Paradise and the people of Hell to Hell, the balances are suspended and set up, and the records are spread out, and the Lord of the Worlds manifests Himself to give judgement between the people.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Fadl ibn Rabi' and another man said: ... Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said: "The whole of religion is reckoning. If there were no reckoning in religion, Allah would not have set up a reckoning for the people." Then he recited this verse: وَ إِنْ کانَ مِثْقالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَیْنا بِها وَ کَفی بِنا حاسِبِینَ [And though there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, We will bring it, and sufficient are We to take account].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): If people had no fear of standing before Allah and the presentation of the reckoning, and there were no disgrace and exposure of secrets, it would be fitting for a person not to come down from the mountain tops, not to dwell in inhabited places, to refrain from eating and drinking, and not to sleep except in cases of necessity and fear of perishing. Such is the state of one who beholds the terrors of the Day of Resurrection, witnesses its severities, and sees himself standing before Allah — at that moment he calls his own soul to account and beholds himself in the Resurrection. Allah says: وَ إِنْ کانَ مِثْقالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَیْنا بِها وَ کَفی بِنا حاسِبِینَ [And though there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, We will bring it, and sufficient are We to take account].

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): "O son of Mas'ud! Beware of the day when the books of deeds will be spread open and disgraces will be laid bare, for Allah the Exalted says: وَ نَضَعُ الْمَوازِینَ الْقِسْطَ لِیَوْمِ الْقِیامَةِ فَلا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَیْئاً وَ إِنْ کانَ مِثْقالَ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَیْنا بِها وَ کَفی بِنا حاسِبِینَ [And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least; and though there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, We will bring it, and sufficient are We to take account]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): These verses, although their wording is in the past tense, are in meaning about the future: وَ نَضَعُ الْمَوازِینَ الْقِسْطَ لِیَوْمِ الْقِیامَةِ فَلا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَیْئاً [And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection, so no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ نَضَعُ الْمَوَازِینَ الْقِسْطَ لِیَوْمِ الْقِیَامَةِ [And We will set up a just balance on the day of resurrection]; what is meant by this is the recompense of individuals. And the verse: وَإِن کَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَیْنَا بِهَا وَکَفَی بِنَا حَاسِبِینَ [And though there be the weight of a grain of mustard seed, We will bring it, and sufficient are We to take account]; declares that We shall requite even that small measure. The verb أَتَیْنَا is with a long alif, read as آتَیْنَا.