whereas if what is placed on the scale consists solely of sins with no good deeds to offset them, that pan will be exceedingly light.

Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq said in his testament to ʿUmar—may Allah be pleased with them both:

“Know that the scales of those whose balance is heavy on the Day of Resurrection became heavy because they followed the truth, even though that weighed upon them. A scale into which truth is set tomorrow has every right to be heavy. Conversely, the scales of those whose balance is light became light because they followed falsehood, and that sat lightly upon them; a scale into which falsehood is set has every right to be light.” (1)

The weighing itself takes two forms:

1. An object of known weight is placed opposite the good and bad deeds—just as one weighs money—and only then are the respective quantities examined to see whether they balance or one outweighs the other.

2. One category of deeds is weighed directly against the other, as when Zayd’s coins are weighed against ʿAmr’s coins so that, if they are exchanged one for one, the balance is clear. This is the weighing indicated in the hadith of the slip, in which it is said: “The slip will be placed on one pan and the registers on the other; the slip will outweigh the registers and the latter will fly off.” (2)