42. Sura ash-Shura [consultation], Mecca 42

The Quranic Text & Ali’s translation:

اللَّهُ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ وَالْمِيزَانَ...

42:17. It is God Who has sent down the Book in truth, and the Balance (by which to weigh conduct).

...وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّ السَّاعَةَ قَرِيبٌ ﴿١٧﴾

And what will make thee realize that perhaps the Hour is close at hand?

Asad’s translation:

(42: 17) [for] it is God [Himself] who has bestowed revelation from on high, setting forth the truth, and [thus given man] a balance [wherewith to weigh right and wrong]. 22 And for all thou knowest, the Last Hour may well be near!

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Asad’s comments:

22 The above two interpolations are based on 57:25, where the idea underlying this verse has been stated clearly. The implication is that since God Himself has given man, through successive revelations, a standard whereby to discern between right and wrong, it is presumptuous and futile to argue about the nature of His Being and His ultimate judgment: hence the reference, in the second half of this and the next verse, to the Last Hour and, thus, the Day of Judgment.

Ali’s comments:

4550. Revelation is like a balance, an instrument placed by God in our hands, by which we can weigh all moral issues, all questions of right and wrong in conduct. We must do so constantly. For the Judgment in any given case may come at any time: it may be quite near, and we must always be prepared.

The Balance may also refer to the God given faculty by which man can judge between right and wrong.

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