Sūrat al-Qāriʿah and What Makes the Scales Heavy

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 17 June 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

Sūrat al-Qāriʿah has a particular impact on the ear of whoever hears it, felt before its dimensions are grasped. And what most draws the attention in it is its place among the sūrahs. When you read the Noble Qur'an, especially the short sūrahs, you sense a special bond among these blessed neighboring sūrahs. So consider how what precedes it ends: ﴿إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لِرَبِّهِ لَكَنُودٌ * وَإِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكَ لَشَهِيدٌ * وَإِنَّهُ لِحُبِّ الْخَيْرِ لَشَدِيدٌ * أَفَلَا يَعْلَمُ إِذَا بُعْثِرَ مَا فِي الْقُبُورِ * وَحُصِّلَ مَا فِي الصُّدُورِ * إِنَّ رَبَّهُم بِهِم يَوْمَئِذٍ لَّخَبِيرٌ﴾ (“Indeed, the human being is ungrateful to his Lord; and indeed, he is a witness to that; and indeed, he is intense in love of wealth. But does he not know, when what is in the graves is scattered, and what is in the breasts is brought out, that their Lord, on that Day, is surely Aware of them?”), and then comes ﴿الْقَارِعَةُ * مَا الْقَارِعَةُ﴾ (“The Striking Calamity. What is the Striking Calamity?”)^[3].

Between al-ʿĀdiyāt and al-Qāriʿah

Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt speaks, in sum, about the movement of the call to Allah, and about its people as they stand amid their enemies, the devils of mankind and jinn. There are the charging steeds, and the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He, portrays for you the great scene of the movement of these soldiers who mounted their horses and set out, heeding nothing in the whole world except reaching their goals. And set against this picture is the picture of that ungrateful one who defied the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He, and turned away from Allah's command throughout his life. Then al-Qāriʿah comes to say: Until when this turning away? Until when this denial and this ingratitude? Until when, until the Striking Calamity comes?

Qāriʿah, Ṣākhkhah, and Ṭāmmah

So we are before a single word that portrays a whole scene. And what is the difference between the Qāriʿah, the Ṣākhkhah, and the Ṭāmmah? And what is the difference between the Qāriʿah, the Ḥāqqah, and the Wāqiʿah? All of them give a different significance in the soul of the recipient and listener, and the listener finds himself only submitting to a truth that the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He, establishes.

The Human Being and the People: Who Is Cared About?

And the sūrah portrays for us the scene of that Day: ﴿يَوْمَ يَكُونُ النَّاسُ كَالْفَرَاشِ الْمَبْثُوثِ﴾ (“On the Day when people will be like scattered moths”). Let us read again and heed the differences between the words. Had the Lord of the worlds said, "the Day when the human being (al-insān) will be," I would have imagined the human being with his might, strength, domination, wealth, armies, and equipment, and I would have pictured those transgressors, tyrants, and fabricators, and their might over mankind. But He, glorified is He, said "the people (al-nās)," that is, the totality of all these, and then likened them to scattered moths. And in the choice of the word "moths" is an indication that the human being will not merely be something contemptible, but something not cared about at all; like a moth that you flick away with your hand and send away from you.

The Mountains Like Carded Wool

﴿وَتَكُونُ الْجِبَالُ كَالْعِهْنِ الْمَنفُوشِ﴾ (“And the mountains will be like carded wool”). It is a likeness that expresses the measure of what we own in life. What do you own? Mountains of money, fleets of possessions? And what do you gain from carded wool beyond making of it a pillow to place under your head? And a pillow is only something you lean on for a little, while the real benefit of it is for one who has departed from the world.

What Makes the Scales Heavy?

Then the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He, says: ﴿فَأَمَّا مَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَازِينُهُ﴾ (“Then as for he whose scales are heavy”). So what makes your scales heavy? Everything you find in your life makes them heavy. The believer deals with this world as a businessman deals, with exactly his mentality; the shrewd businessman leaves no small matter or great without entering into it. You find him telling you: Gold will gain today, there is something new with copper among the people, take us a few shares in it. His head turns with everything happening around him, and he is wholly occupied with all that goes on, twenty-four hours a day: from here five, from here three, from here ninety, and if he loses in one place he makes it up from another.

That is the mentality of the believer if you transfer it to the Hereafter; he is among fasting, night prayer, remembrance, recitation, maintaining family ties, and checking on the conditions of people. He heeds his time and place, and leaves no small matter or great without gaining from it a kind of obedience that others do not gain, because he has nothing else. And this mentality stands against ﴿يَوْمَ يَكُونُ النَّاسُ كَالْفَرَاشِ الْمَبْثُوثِ﴾ (“On the Day when people will be like scattered moths”).

And the word "making heavy" in itself means that you place heavy things that do not fly away with events. And it is not fitting for a speaker to mention this weight in the scales without mentioning against it the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ when he asked his Companions: Do you know who is the bankrupt? They answered that the bankrupt among us is the one who has no dirham and no dinar. That is according to you, but in the true underlying conception he made clear ﷺ that the bankrupt of his Ummah is the one who comes on the Day of Resurrection with prayer, fasting, zakāh, and ḥajj, but he has come having insulted this one and cursed that one.^[1] When you place the two pictures face to face, you see that the one who makes his scales heavy is busy with real work, and that the one busy with people, cursing this one and speaking about that, is a man of an empty mentality. So it is as though we basically need to reshape the mentality: what do you care about? If you are burdened with the quantity of work accomplished during the day, you have no time to waste. You tell the one who calls you: I am sorry, I was late replying to you, I had two meetings, and I was at a gathering, and I was working on such-and-such; I am not idle, and I have no time to waste.

"His Mother Will Be Hāwiyah"

﴿وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَازِينُهُ * فَأُمُّهُ هَاوِيَةٌ﴾ (“But as for he whose scales are light, his mother is the Abyss”). What is the mother's fault? And why does the mention of the mother come up? As a person says to one who insults him: Why do you bring up my mother? And the mother is the refuge to which everyone empty of security returns, and our Lord gives us this depiction. And we know that the mother is a sure thing; there is no doubt that if you take shelter with her, she shelters you, may Allah be pleased with all our mothers. So we are before the reference point that never fails whoever returns to it, and it is itself an abyss! And we do not of course mean mothers, but rather the source of security and comfort for any person. You were comfortable in the world: I am in my position, I am with my money, I am with my engineering, I am with my medicine, I am with the company I founded. Each one has his comfort zone in which he rests, and feels that he is complete, and that he owns this world and the next. So Allah, blessed and exalted, says: ﴿فَأُمُّهُ هَاوِيَةٌ * وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا هِيَهْ * نَارٌ حَامِيَةٌ﴾ (“his mother is the Abyss. And what will make you know what it is? A blazing Fire”).

Is It Reasonable for Him to Continue?

Imagine a person who founded a very large company, then discovered after a while that it is the source of disturbance in his life. After he began working and putting everything into it, he found himself, because of this great preoccupation and abundant worry, afflicted with diabetes and high blood pressure, his health gone, his life in turmoil. Is it reasonable that he carry on in it? He tells you: I put my money into it and I cannot get out! It is said to him: Get out with your health. And then the Lord of the worlds, glorified is He, says: ﴿فَأُمُّهُ هَاوِيَةٌ * وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا هِيَهْ * نَارٌ حَامِيَةٌ﴾ (“his mother is the Abyss. And what will make you know what it is? A blazing Fire”). Is it reasonable that a person realize the causes of his preoccupation in this world are the causes of his Fire, and yet continue his course with that? Or does he come to his senses, so that he does not reach the graves with still more rivalry in worldly increase?

And see how the story proceeds, and imagine this connection too: you are with the Qāriʿah immersed in the world, continuing in ingratitude, until the moment comes of ﴿حَتَّىٰ زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ * كَلَّا سَوْفَ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾ (“until you visit the graves. No! You will soon know”).^[2] If we follow the sequence, what is the cause of salvation? This noble gathering: ﴿الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ﴾ (“those who believe and do righteous deeds and urge one another to truth and urge one another to patience”). It is the sequence of the sūrahs of the Qur'an, as though it were the prescription a doctor writes. And by Allah the Almighty, you walk along with the sūrahs and find yourself flowing with them, as one who enjoys this coherence.

We ask Allah, blessed and exalted, to help us make our scales heavy, and to preserve for us what we have been entrusted with of the blessing of obedience until we meet Him with it.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth is in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, and it was conveyed in the khatira by its meaning. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The speaker pronounced the verse in the form «حتى إذا زرتم المقابر», and it is given here as it appears in the muṣḥaf. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: [al-ʿĀdiyāt: 6–11], [al-Qāriʿah: 1–2], [al-Qāriʿah: 4], [al-Qāriʿah: 5], [al-Qāriʿah: 6], [al-Qāriʿah: 8–9], [al-Qāriʿah: 9–11], [al-Takāthur: 2–3], [al-ʿAṣr: 3].