God has made everything in balance, human beings also should strive for the proper balance God has set for them

وَالسَّمَاء رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ ﴿٧﴾

55:7.     And the Firmament has He raised high, and He has set up the balance (of Justice)

أَلَّا تَطْغَوْا فِي الْمِيزَانِ ﴿٨﴾

8.     In order that ye may not transgress (due) balance.

وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ ﴿٩﴾

9.     So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance.

وَالْأَرْضَ وَضَعَهَا لِلْأَنَامِ ﴿١٠﴾

10.  It is He Who has spread out the earth for (His) creatures:

فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَالنَّخْلُ ذَاتُ الْأَكْمَامِ ﴿١١﴾

11.  Therein is fruit and date-palms, producing spathes (enclosing dates):

وَالْحَبُّ ذُو الْعَصْفِ وَالرَّيْحَانُ ﴿١٢﴾

12.  Also corn with (its) leaves and stalk for fodder, and sweet-smelling plants.

فَبِأَيِّ آلَاء رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ ﴿١٣﴾

13.  Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny?

Asad’s version

55:7 And the skies has He raised high, and has devised [for all things] a measure, 3 (55:8) so that you [too, O men,] might never transgress the measure [of what is right): (55:9) weigh, therefore, [your deed] with equity, and cut not the measure short!

55:10 And the earth has He spread out for all living beings,

(55:1 1) with fruit thereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters [of dates],

(55:12) and grain growing tall on its stalks, and sweet- smelling plants.

(55: 13) Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? 4

[[ Asad’s notes :-

3 The noun mizan, usually denoting a "balance", has here the more general connotation of "measure" or "measuring" by any means whatsoever (Zamakhshari), in both the concrete and abstract senses of the word. (Cf also the parabolic use of the term mza~ in 42:17 and 57:25.) ]]

[[Ali’s notes:

C5177. The "balance of justice" in this verse is connected with "the Balance" in the next two verses, that men may act justly to each other and observe due balance in all their actions, following the golden mean and not transgressing due bounds in anything. But the Balance is also connected figuratively with the heavens above in three symbols:

• Justice is a heavenly virtue:

• the heavens themselves are sustained by mathematical balance; and,

• the constellation Libra (the Balance) is entered by the sun at the middle of the zodiacal year.

C5178. To be taken both literally and figuratively.

A man should be honest and straight in every daily matter, such as weighing out things which he is selling: and he should be straight, just and honest, in all the highest dealings, not only with other people, but with himself and in his obedience to Allah's Law. Not many do either the one or the other when they have an opportunity of deceit. Justice is the central virtue, and the avoidance of both excess and defect in conduct keeps the human world balanced just as the heavenly world is kept balanced by mathematical order.

C5179. How can Allah's favours be counted?

Look at the earth alone. Life and the conditions here are mutually balanced for Allah's creatures. The vegetable world produces fruit of various kinds and corn or grain of various kinds for human food. The grain harvest yields with it fodder for animals in the shape of leaves and straw, as well as food for men in the shape of grain. The plants not only supply food but sweet-smelling herbs and flowers.

C5179a. Rayhan is the sweet basil, but is here used in the generic sense, for agreeable produce in the vegetable world, to match the useful produce already mentioned.

C5180. Both the pronoun "your" and the verb "will ye deny" are in the Arabic in the Dual Number.

The whole Surah is a symphony of Duality, which leads up to Unity, as explained in the Introduction. All creation is in pairs: 51:49, and notes 5025-26; 36:36, n. 3981.

Justice is the conciliation of two opposites to unity, the settlement of the unending feud between Right and Wrong. The things and concepts mentioned in this Sura are in pairs: man and outer nature; sun and moon; herbs and trees; heaven and earth; fruit and corn; human food and fodder for cattle; things nourishing and things sweet- smelling; and so on throughout the Sura. Then there is man and Jinn, for which see n. 5182 below.

"Will ye deny?" that is, fail to acknowledge either in word or thought or in your conduct. If you misuse Allah's gifts or ignore them, that is equivalent to ingratitude or denial or refusal to profit by Allah's infinite Grace.]]