(17–18) “Allah is the One who sent down the Book in truth and the Balance. What could make you know? Perhaps the Hour is near. * Those who do not believe in it seek to hasten it, while those who believe are fearful of it and know that it is the truth. Truly, those who dispute concerning the Hour are far astray.”
After Allah Most High stated that His proofs are clear and evident, such that everyone possessing any goodness responds to them, He mentioned their foundation and basis—indeed, the basis of all the proofs He has conveyed to His servants. He said: “Allah is the One who sent down the Book in truth and the Balance.” The Book is this magnificent Quran. It was sent down in truth and encompasses truth, veracity, and certainty. All of it consists of clear signs and manifest proofs concerning every matter of divine truth and every doctrine of religion. Thus, it presents the finest teachings and the clearest proofs.
As for the Balance, it is justice, together with judgment based on sound analogy and discerning reason. All rational proofs—including the signs throughout the horizons and within the human soul, inferences drawn from revealed law, appropriate correlations and effective causes, and rulings together with their underlying wisdom—fall within the Balance that Allah Most High sent down and established among His servants. By it they may weigh matters that are unclear and recognize the truth of what He and His messengers have reported. Anything said to be an argument, proof, evidence, or the like that falls outside these two—the Book and the Balance—is false and self-contradictory. Its foundations are corrupt, and its structure and branches have collapsed. This is recognized by anyone who has mastered these matters and their sources, knows how to distinguish stronger evidence from weaker evidence, and can differentiate genuine proofs from specious arguments. As for one who is deceived by embellished expressions and deceptive words, whose insight does not penetrate to the intended meaning, he is neither qualified in this discipline nor a champion in this arena. Whether he agrees or disagrees is equally immaterial.
Allah Most High then warned those who deny the Hour yet demand that it be hastened. He said: “What could make you know? Perhaps the Hour is near.” That is, its distance is unknown, as is the time when it will occur. Its occurrence may therefore be expected at any moment, and its sudden onset is to be feared.
“Those who do not believe in it seek to hasten it,” out of obstinacy and denial, tauntingly challenging their Lord to bring it about. “While those who believe are fearful of it”—that is, they are afraid because they believe in it and know that it entails recompense for deeds. Because they know their Lord, they fear that their deeds may neither save them nor bring them felicity. He therefore said: “And know that it is the truth,” about which there is no uncertainty and which no doubt can assail.
“Truly, those who dispute concerning the Hour”—that is, after entertaining doubts about it themselves, they dispute with the messengers and their followers over their affirmation of it. They are thus in far-reaching opposition: an obstinate and contentious opposition that is nowhere near what is right but is, rather, exceedingly far from the truth. Who could be further astray than one who denies the Abode that is truly the Abode—the Abode created for everlasting existence and eternal abiding, and the Abode of recompense in which Allah will manifest His justice and grace? This worldly abode, in comparison, is merely like a rider who stops for a midday rest in the shade of a tree, then departs and leaves it behind. It is only a crossing and thoroughfare, not a place of permanent residence.
They accepted as true the fading, perishing abode because they saw and witnessed it, yet denied the Abode of the Hereafter, which has been attested to in uninterrupted succession by the divine scriptures, the noble messengers, and their followers—those possessing the most complete reason, the richest knowledge, and the greatest acuity and understanding among all creation.