and that they will remain in Hell forever; the Fire will scorch their faces, and there they will grimace. Their scales are light because they contain nothing of real weight or substance. The Almighty has described both good and evil as possessing weight when He said:

“So whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it.”
(Al-Zalzalah 99:7–8)

He thus informs us that good and evil may exist in the measure of an atom (1). When the two are placed on the scale, one side will outweigh the other—this is the weighing of good deeds against misdeeds illustrated in the ḥadīth of the parchment. Such weighing is reserved for the one who has at least a single good deed to be weighed.

By contrast, the outright unbeliever’s deeds are lost; no good deed remains to be weighed, for his entire record consists solely of misdeeds. Allah will assign him no weight whatsoever, even though he may imagine those deeds to be righteous, as Abū Saʿīd explained.

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Those who disbelieve—their works are like a mirage in a desert plain…” (Al-Nūr 24:39),

and He says:

“The parable of those who disbelieve in their Lord: their works are like ashes that the wind blows fiercely on a stormy day…” (Ibrāhīm 14:18).

These people’s scales are light in the absolute sense, for nothing upon them can lend weight; the scales grow heavy only with the truth, and they possess nothing but falsehood. It is therefore fitting that a scale not even be set up for them.