supports Him and His messengers unseen. Indeed, Allah is All-Powerful, Almighty.”

He, exalted is He, thus states that He sent down the Scripture and the balance, and that He sent down iron, so that justice might be upheld and so that Allah may know who supports Him and His messengers. Thus, religion is sustained by a Scripture that guides and a sword that supports; and sufficient is your Lord as a Guide and Helper. Although both the Scripture and iron are described as having been sent down, this does not preclude their having been sent down from different sources.

The Scripture was sent down from Allah, as He, exalted is He, says:

“The revelation of the Scripture is from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”

He also says:

“Alif Lām Rā. A Scripture whose verses have been perfected and then explained in detail, from One who is All-Wise, All-Aware.”

And He says:

“Indeed, you receive the Quran from One who is All-Wise, All-Knowing.”

Iron, by contrast, was sent down from the mountains in which it was created.

Likewise, He describes those who are truthful in their claim to righteousness—which encompasses the whole religion—in His words, exalted is He:

“Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but righteous is the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Scripture, and the prophets.”

Up to His words:

“It is they who are truthful, and it is they who are mindful of Allah.”

As for the hypocrites, He, glorified is He, describes them as liars in numerous verses, such as His words, exalted is He:

“In their hearts is a disease, so Allah has increased their disease; and they will have a painful punishment because they used to lie.”

And His words:

“When the hypocrites come to you, they say, ‘We testify that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah.’ Allah knows that you are indeed His Messenger, and Allah testifies that the hypocrites are indeed liars.”

And His words:

“So He afflicted their hearts with hypocrisy until the Day they meet Him, because they broke the promise they had made to Allah and because they used to lie.”

There are many similar passages in the Quran. It should also be understood that truthfulness and affirmation are found both in words and in