The Trust—that is, faith—was sent down into the very root of the hearts, for the root is the foundation. This took place only through the Messengers: once they conveyed what they had been commanded to convey and people heard it, Allah inspired the hearts with faith and caused it to reside within them.

Likewise, Allah, Exalted be He, set the Balance within the hearts. When the Messengers clarified justice and the standard by which it is weighed, the hearts recognized it; so Allah endowed them with knowledge by which they weigh matters, discern resemblance and difference, and devise the sensory instruments required for that purpose—such as the scales used for gold and silver and the like. All of this is part of His establishing the Balance. The Exalted says:

“And the sky He raised and set the Balance, so that you do not transgress the Balance. Uphold the weight with equity, and do not cheat the Balance.” (Qurʾān 55:7–9)

Many exegetes said, “It is justice,” while others said, “It is that by which justice is weighed and recognized.” The two meanings are inseparable.

Eighth Aspect: The philosophers possess no demonstrative proof for their so-called sciences.

Just as they confined certainty to the syllogistic form, they restricted it to the specific materials they listed—sensory propositions, first principles, mass-transmitted reports, empirical findings, and intuitive judgments. Yet, as has already been shown, there is no proof for rejecting certainty in propositions beyond these.

Moreover, even in sensory and intellectual matters they considered only what human beings normally share in, and they contradicted themselves in so doing. Humanity shares only in some sights and some sounds: everyone sees the very sun, moon, and stars, and they behold the general types of cloud and lightning—though what this group sees is not exactly what that group sees. Likewise, they all hear the sound of thunder. But as for what some of them hear of speech