al-Anbiyāʾ 21:47 commentary

21/47

وَنَضَعُ ٱلْمَوَٰزِينَ ٱلْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَيْـًٔا وَإِن كَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَيْنَا بِهَا وَكَفَىٰ بِنَا حَٰسِبِينَ

Wa naḍaʿu'l-mawāzīna'l-qisṭa li-yawmi'l-qiyāmati fa-lā tuẓlamu nafsun shayʾā, wa in kāna mithqāla ḥabbatin min khardalin ataynā bihā, wa kafā binā ḥāsibīn

"We shall set up the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, and no soul will be wronged in anything. Even were it the weight of a mustard seed, We shall bring it forth. And We suffice as reckoners."

ٱلْمَوَٰزِين — the disagreement about the plural

The root و-ز-ن and the word mīzān were treated at al-Ḥadīd on 57/25. There the three things sent down together were tabulated: the Book, the balance, and iron — and mīzān was recorded as the instrument of measure. I rely on that treatment.

Mīzān is on the mifʿāl pattern, and in Arabic this pattern forms nouns of instrument (miftāḥ — a key, miṣbāḥ — a lamp). That is, the word is the tool that does the measuring.

And there is disagreement about the plural here:

View	Of what mawāzīn is the plural	Sense
1	The plural of *mīzān*	Scales — more than one balance
2	The plural of *mawzūn*	The things weighed — deeds
3	The plural is for conveying multitude and grandeur	One balance, a plural wording

I transmit the disagreement and do not impose a preference.

And the division of labour between the two sūras must be recorded — this is a verifiable comparison:

	al-Ḥadīd 57/25	al-Anbiyāʾ 21/47
The word	al-mīzān — singular	al-mawāzīn — plural
The verb	anzalnā — We sent down	naḍaʿu — We set up
When	In this world — together with the messengers	On the Day of Resurrection
For what	li-yaqūma'n-nāsu bi'l-qisṭ — that people may uphold justice	fa-lā tuẓlamu nafsun shayʾā — that no soul be wronged

And the shared word is qisṭ: the same root in both. I record this as my own reading, its ground being the two verses' shared word and their opposite times: the same measure is once given to the human being and once set up over him.

ٱلْقِسْطَ — it is in the accusative and is an attribute of mawāzīn. And a point of grammar: qisṭ is a verbal noun; qualifying with a verbal noun conveys intensification in Arabic. Not "just scales" but "scales that are justice itself".

لِيَوْمِ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ — two readings of the particle lām are transmitted:

Reading	What the lām is	Sense
1	In the sense of fī	"We set them up on the Day of Resurrection"
2	Of cause (taʿlīl)	"We set them up for the Day of Resurrection"

Both readings are transmitted; I do not impose a preference.

مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ — comparison with Luqmān

This measure was treated at Luqmān on 31/16, and it was recorded there:

"The mustard seed is one of the smallest grains known in the kitchen of that day. That is, the measure is taken from something the listener could handle."

I rely on that treatment and now set the two verses side by side, because they are the two occurrences in the Qurʾān:

	Luqmān 31/16	al-Anbiyāʾ 21/47
Who says it	Luqmān, to his son — inside an admonition	The text — inside the scene of reckoning
The measure	mithqāla ḥabbatin min khardal	mithqāla ḥabbatin min khardal
Where it is hidden	fī ṣakhratin aw fi's-samāwāti aw fi'l-arḍ — three hiding places	Not said
The verb	yaʾti bihā'llāh — God brings it forth	ataynā bihā — We bring it forth
The closing attribute	inna'llāha laṭīfun khabīr	wa kafā binā ḥāsibīn

And two differences must be recorded.

The first is the person of the verb: Luqmān speaks in the third person (yaʾti bihā'llāh), because the speaker is a human being. al-Anbiyāʾ uses the first person plural (ataynā bihā), because the speaker is the text itself. The same verb (أ-ت-ي, Form IV), in two different mouths.

The second, and more important, is the closing attribute — I give this as my own reading:

Luqmān ends with laṭīf and khabīr: the one who reaches the finest place, and the one who is informed. The subject of the verse there was finding.

al-Anbiyāʾ ends with ḥāsibīn: the one who reckons. The subject of the verse here is weighing.

That is, the same unit of measure is used for two different operations: in Luqmān it shows the reach of knowledge, in al-Anbiyāʾ the sensitivity of the balance.

وَكَفَىٰ بِنَا حَٰسِبِينَ — and ḥāsibīn is from the same root as ḥisābuhum in the sūra's first verse: ح-س-ب.

This is one of the most closed frames of the sūra and is wholly a datum of the text:

Verse	Expression	Who
1	iqtaraba li'n-nāsi ḥisābuhum	Mankind — whose reckoning has drawn near
47	wa kafā binā ḥāsibīn	The one who will do the reckoning

The sūra names here the owner of the thing it said forty-seven verses earlier had drawn near. And the third block closes with this sentence; immediately afterwards the series of prophets begins.