The Quran

Preface

وَوُضِعَ الكِتابُ فَتَرَى المُجرِمينَ مُشفِقينَ مِمّا فيهِ وَيَقولونَ يا وَيلَتَنا مالِ هٰذَا الكِتابِ لا يُغادِرُ صَغيرَةً وَلا كَبيرَةً إِلّا أَحصاها ۚ وَوَجَدوا ما عَمِلوا حاضِرًا ۗ وَلا يَظلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًا

Yusuf Ali

And the Book (of Deeds) will be placed (before you); and thou wilt see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say, “Ah! woe to us! what a Book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!” They will find all that they did, placed before them: And not one will thy Lord treat with injustice.¹

Personal responsibility, for all deeds in this life, will then be enforced. But it will be done with perfect justice. Expressed in the forms of this world, it will amount to a clear statement of all we did in this life: the record will be put before us to convince us. As it will be a perfect record, with no omissions and no wrong entries, it will be perfectly convincing. Where there is punishment, it has been earned by the wrongdoer’s own deeds, not imposed on him unjustly.