﴿And what can make you know what it is?﴾ This wording magnifies and emphasizes the enormity of the Abyss. The question is asked: What is it? Do you know what it is? It is truly something immense. It is a fiercely hot Fire at the utmost degree of heat. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “It exceeds the fire of this world by sixty-nine parts” (1). Consider all the fires of this world—whether a wood fire, burning paper, the fire of a stove, or anything still more intense: the Fire of Hell surpasses them by sixty-nine parts. We ask Allah for safety. This verse instills fear of and warns against this Day, and shows that people fall into only two categories:

Either a man whose good deeds outweigh his evil deeds, or a man whose evil deeds outweigh his good deeds.

It also provides evidence that there will be scales on the Day of Resurrection, although some texts refer to a single scale. Is it therefore one scale or several? (2)

Some scholars said that it is one scale, but the plural is used in consideration of the things weighed upon it: good and evil deeds are weighed upon it; the good deeds of this person and that person are weighed upon it; and the good deeds of this nation and other nations are weighed upon it. Thus, the plural refers to what is weighed, not to the scale itself. The scale itself is one.

Other scholars said that there are several scales: every nation has a scale, and every deed has a scale. It is therefore expressed in the plural.

The more apparent view—and Allah knows best—is that it is one scale, but the plural is used in consideration of what is weighed, whether deeds, nations, or individuals.

This verse also indicates that no mention is made here of a person whose good and evil deeds are equal. Allah Most High, however, explained in Surah al-A'rāf that such people will not enter the Fire; rather, they will be held in a place called the Heights, and He mentioned—