Ar-Rahman: (9) And establish weight with justice...

And His saying, the Exalted, {And establish weight with justice} indicates that what is meant by His saying: {Do not transgress in the balance} is the meaning of "Do not transgress in weighing," because His saying {And establish weight with justice} is like an explanation for His saying {Do not transgress in the balance}, which is deviating from establishing it with fairness.

His saying {And establish weight with justice} admits of two interpretations:

1. The first: That aqīmū (establish) means "stand firm in it," as in His saying {And when We took} (Al-Baqarah: 43), meaning stand firm in it perpetually. This is because the verb is sometimes transitive with a preposition, and sometimes by adding the hamza (the prefix a-). You say: adhhabahu (He made it go) and dhahaba bihi (He went with it).
2. The second: That aqīmū means "stand firm." It is said regarding returning/reinstating something: aqamtuhu and qawamtuhu. Al-Qist means justice.

If it is asked: How did qist come to mean "injustice" instead of "justice"? We reply: Al-Qist is a noun, not a verbal noun (masdar). For nouns that are not verbal nouns, when someone utters them or they are found, the form af'ala (like aqsta) means "to establish," just as it is said: aṭrafa (he presented a gift), ataḥḥafa (he presented a fine thing), and a'rafa (he presented knowledge), meaning he brought a gift, a fine thing, or knowledge. You say: aqbaḍa as-sayfa (he gripped the sword) meaning he established a grip on it, and a'lama ath-thawba (he marked the garment) meaning he gave it a mark, and a'lama meaning he established the sign. Likewise, aljama al-faras (he bridled the horse) and asraja (he saddled). So, when one commands al-qist or establishes it, he has aqsaṭa, which means he was just.

As for qasaṭa (with a fatha on the qāf), it is a verb derived from a noun that is not a verbal noun. When a verb is derived from a noun that was not originally a verbal noun, it might change its meaning from its original state. An example is al-katif (shoulder); if you say kaffattuhu takfītan, it is as if you said: you took it out of its original state of utility and changed it. The meaning of kaffattuhu is that you tightened his shoulders to one another, so he is maktūf (bound). Thus, al-katif (like al-qasṭ) became verbal nouns derived from a noun, and the verb's meaning changed from what it should have been. Based on this, there is no need to say that al-qāsiṭ and al-muqsiṭ do not share the same origin.

In any case, it could be said that aqsaṭa means "to remove al-qasṭ (injustice)," just as one says ashkā (to remove complaint) or a'jama (to remove obscurity/illiteracy). This discussion has benefit because of the saying of the speaker: "So-and-so is aqsaṭ (more just) than so-and-so," and God's saying: {That is more just with Allah} (Al-Baqarah: 282). The origin for the comparative form af'al (like aqsaṭ) should be from the simple triliteral root. You say aẓlam (more unjust) and a'dal (more just) from ẓālim (unjust) and ʿādil (just). Therefore, aqsaṭa should have been from qāsiṭ, but it was not so, because, as we explained, the origin is al-qasṭ (injustice), and qasaṭa is a verb acting contrary to that. Iqṣāṭ is the removal of that, returning al-qasṭ to its origin, so aqsaṭa conforms to the origin. The comparative form af'al is taken from what is the origin, not from what is derived from it. Thus, one says aẓlam from ẓālim, not from mutaẓallim (one who is being wronged), and a'lam from ʿālim (knower), not from mu'allim (teacher).

The summary is that although al-aqsaṭ (more just), looking at the form, should have been derived from al-qāsiṭ (unjust), looking at the meaning, it must be derived from al-muqsiṭ (just), because al-muqsiṭ is closer to the original root (al-qasṭ). This is unlike al-ẓālim and al-maẓlūm, where al-aẓlam became derived from al-ẓālim because it is closer to the origin in both form and meaning, and similarly al-ʿālim and al-mu'allim, and al-khabir and al-mukhbir.

Then He said: {And do not give short measure in the balance} meaning: do not diminish what is being weighed.

God, the Exalted, mentioned al-mīzān (the balance/measure) three times, each time with a different meaning:

1. The first is the instrument: {And He set up the balance} (Ar-Rahman: 7).
2. The second is the verbal noun (the act of weighing): {Do not transgress in the balance} (Ar-Rahman: 8), meaning the weighing itself.
3. The third refers to the object being measured: {And do not give short measure in the balance} meaning the weighed item.

He mentioned all three using the word al-mīzān because the balance is more comprehensive for the benefit, just as the Quran is mentioned by God, the Exalted, as a verbal noun in His saying: {Then follow the Quran} (Al-Qiyamah: 18), and as the recited text in His saying: {Indeed, upon Us is its collection and its recitation} (Al-Qiyamah: 17), and as the book containing the recitation in His saying: {And if there were a Quran by which mountains were moved} (Ar-Ra'd: 31), so it is like an instrument and the container for it. Also in His saying: {And We have certainly given you seven of the often-repeated [verses] and the great Quran} (Al-Hijr: 87), and in many places, the Quran is mentioned for this noble Book.

There is a correspondence between the Quran and the Balance: the Quran contains knowledge not found in other books, and the Balance contains justice not found in other instruments.

If it is asked: What is the wisdom in preceding the heaven with the verb when He said: {And He raised the heaven} and preceding the verb with the balance when He said: {And He set up the balance} (Ar-Rahman: 7)? We reply: We have mentioned repeatedly that in every word of God there are benefits that human knowledge cannot encompass except what is apparent. What is apparent here is that when He enumerated the eight blessings, some were more specifically related to humankind than others. For those most specifically related to humankind, He preceded the verb, just as we explained that a person says: "I gave you thousands" but "tens accrued to you," meaning he does not explicitly attribute the action to himself concerning the small amount. Likewise, regarding specific blessings, he says: "I gave you such-and-such," but concerning shared blessings, he says: "Such-and-such reached you from what you divided among yourselves," so he explicitly states the giving when it is exclusive, and does not attribute the action to himself when it is shared.

Similarly here, He mentioned four things by preceding the verb: {He taught the Quran * He created man * He taught him expression} {And He set up the balance} (Ar-Rahman: 7). And four things by preceding the noun: {And the sun and the moon * And the stars and the vegetation * And He raised the heaven * And the earth He laid out} (Ar-Rahman: 5-10). This is because the teaching of the Quran benefits humankind most directly, and the creation of man is specific to him, and teaching him expression is likewise, and setting up the balance is likewise, because they (humans) are the ones who benefit from it, not angels, nor any animal other than humankind. As for the sun, the moon, the vegetation, the heaven, and the earth, every animal on earth and under the heaven benefits from them.

Then God, the Exalted, said:

! 7 < {And the earth He laid out for mankind} . > 7 !

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