sufficient as a reckoner against thee this day” (17:14). In other words, the effect of a man’s deeds becomes so manifest on the Resurrection Day that no outside reckoning is needed. It is man himself who reads his own book, that is to say, sees all his actions in the impress left on him, and judges himself because the reckoning has already appeared in his own self.

In agreement with this are two other verses of an earlier chapter: “Nay, surely the record (kitāb) of the wicked is in the prison” (83:7); “Nay, surely the record (kitāb) of the righteous is in the highest places” (83:18). As opposed to the righteous who are in the highest places, the wicked should have been spoken of as being in the lowest places, but instead of that they are stated to be in prison, which means that a bar is placed against their advancement; hence they are mentioned further on as being “debarred from their Lord” (83:15), while the righteous go on advancing to higher and higher places. The word ‘record’ or book (kitāb), here plainly stands for the inner self of the man; in any other sense, the placing of the book in a prison is meaningless. Thus it is clear from the various descriptions of the “book of deeds” or “the record of deeds” that it is the effect of good or evil deeds accelerating or retarding a man’s spiritual progress, as the case may be, that is meant, and that the writing is nothing but the impress that is left on man when he does a good or bad deed — an impress which no human eye can see, but whose reality cannot be doubted by any conscientious thinker.

Balance or mīzān

A ‘balance’ is also spoken of in connection with the good and evil deeds of man. The mīzān or balance is again a misunderstood word. Wazn is simply the knowing of the measure of a thing (R.). It is true that the measure of material things is judged by a pair of scales or by some other implement, but the deeds of man need no scales for their measurement. Rāghib is very clear on this point when he says that by wazn or mīzān, in connection with the deeds of men, is meant “the doing of justice in the reckoning of men.” He quotes the following examples: “And the judging (wazn) on that day will be just” (7:8); “And We will set up a just balance (mawāzin, pl. of mīzān) on the Day of Resurrection” (21:47), where in fact the meaning is made clear in the