God—glorified be He—speaks of the weighing of good and evil deeds in several verses, saying:

“And the weighing on that Day will be the true weighing; so those whose scales are heavy, it is they who will prosper.” [7:8]

Similar statements are found at the close of Sūrat al-Muʾminūn, in Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ, and in Sūrat al-Qāriʿa.

In the two Ṣaḥīḥs, Abū Hurayrah relates that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Two phrases are light upon the tongue yet heavy on the Scale, beloved to the All-Merciful: Subḥāna-llāh wa bi-ḥamdih, Subḥāna-llāh al-ʿAẓīm.” (1)

In the ḥadith of the parchment, reported by al-Tirmidhī and others:

“The parchment will be placed on one pan and the ninety-nine scrolls on the other; the parchment will outweigh the scrolls.” (2)

Whether what is weighed are the written records or the deeds themselves, they will be given tangible form—just as the recompense for al-Baqarah and Āl ʿImrān will appear like two clouds, or two canopies, or two flocks of birds stretching their wings in ranks (3)—and the reward of the Qur’an will come in