Those whose good deeds weigh heavy in the balance shall be...

Those whose good deeds weigh heavy in the balance shall be saved and those whose deeds are slight are those who have wronged themselves by transgressing against the signs and messengers of God” (7:8-9). These verses point out that those who have squandered the capital of their existence will suffer eternal and irredeemable loss, for the loss that results in the corruption of the very essence of man's being is the greatest of all losses and no compensation can be made for it.

It should be remembered that we cannot always apply the criteria with which we are familiar to understanding the words of the Qur'an; we must seek to understand the concepts that underlie them and the results to which they give rise. Moreover, the words to which we have recourse in attempting to explain matters are inevitably defective. * * * * * Thanks to the progress of science, man has discovered means for measuring air and blood, the temperature of the body, and electrical currents.

However, he does not possess means for measuring the motives and intentions of men's deeds or their good and their evil. It is in the hereafter that means exist for the measurement and assessment of such matters. Precise criteria and means of measurement exist there for assessing the spiritual and moral dimensions of men's deeds, permitting a division of them into good and evil.

In our present circumstances we are unaware of the exact nature of those means, for our knowledge of the mutable world in which we live is derived from the experiences we derived from it. The other world possesses a content and characteristics which are beyond our capacity to perceive directly or even to guess; the possibility of experiencing it is totally excluded.

Hisham relates that he asked Imam as-Sadiq, upon whom be peace, the meaning of the verse, “At the time of resurrection, We shall set up the scales of justice” (21:47) . The Imam replied: “The prophets and the legatees are the scales.” ( Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. VII, p. 252) What he meant by this was that everyone can measure his own weight and value by comparing his faith and his deeds to theirs.

Even in the present world, there are pure, virtuous and God-fearing persons who represent a criterion of measurement. In this world, however, many realities are hidden; on the day of resurrection, which is the day on which inner realities will become manifest, the nature of the scales will also become apparent.