The Quran

283

Preface

۞ وَإِن كُنتُم عَلىٰ سَفَرٍ وَلَم تَجِدوا كاتِبًا فَرِهانٌ مَقبوضَةٌ ۖ فَإِن أَمِنَ بَعضُكُم بَعضًا فَليُؤَدِّ الَّذِي اؤتُمِنَ أَمانَتَهُ وَليَتَّقِ اللَّهَ رَبَّهُ ۗ وَلا تَكتُمُوا الشَّهادَةَ ۚ وَمَن يَكتُمها فَإِنَّهُ آثِمٌ قَلبُهُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِما تَعمَلونَ عَليمٌ

Yusuf Ali

If ye are on a journey, and cannot find a scribe, a pledge with possession (may serve the purpose)¹. And if one of you deposits a thing on trust with another², Let the trustee (Faithfully) discharge His trust, and let him fear his Lord. Conceal not evidence; for whoever conceals it,- His heart is tainted³ with sin. And God Knoweth all that ye do.

A pledge or security stands on its own independent footing, though it is a very convenient form of closing the bargain where the parties cannot trust each other, and cannot get a written agreement with proper witnesses.
The Law of Deposit implies great trust in the Depositary on the part of the Depositor. The Depositary becomes a trustee, and the doctrine of Trust can be further developed on that basis. The trustee’s duty is to guard the interests of the person on whose behalf he holds the trust and to render back the property and accounts when required according to the terms of the trust. This duty again is linked to the sanction of Religion, which requires a higher standard than Law.
It sometimes happens that if some inconvenient piece of evidence is destroyed or concealed, we gain a great advantage materially. We are warned not to yield to such a temptation. The concealment of evidence has a serious effect on our own moral and spiritual life, for it taints the very source of higher life, as typified by the heart. The heart is also the seat of our secrets. We are told that the sin will reach our most secret being, though the sin may not be visible or open to the world. Further, the heart is the seat of our affections, and false dealing taints all our affections.