Al-Isra · Makki · ayah 35 of 111

Al-Isra 17:35

وَأَوْفُوا۟ ٱلْكَيْلَ إِذَا كِلْتُمْ وَزِنُوا۟ بِٱلْقِسْطَاسِ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا

“And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with an even [i.e., honest] balance. That is the best [way] and best in result.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Give full measure and weigh with a straight balance, especially when the scoop is in your hand, because honesty ends in the better place.

A reflection

Only when the scoop is in your hand

Wa-awfū al-kayla idhā kiltum: give full measure when you measure. The last two words can seem unnecessary. When else would anyone give measure?

One commentator explains the condition. Short measure happens at one moment only: when you are the one measuring for someone else. When you are the one receiving, nobody needs to command you to check. The Quran describes those who, when they take a measure from people, insist on the full amount (83:2).

A couple put their terraced house on the market. For the listing, every room is measured generously, the tape run deep into the bay window and under the stairs. Six weeks later they view a flat to buy. He brings a laser measure and checks every wall the agent quoted. Same couple, same month, two different rulers.

That is the human default the ayah is aimed at. Nobody is naturally careless with what is owed to them. Our eyes sharpen when we receive and blur when we give.

So the command is placed precisely at the moment of blur. Not 'be fair in general', which everyone already agrees with. Rather: when the scoop, the tape, the invoice or the quote is in your hand, and the other person cannot see inside it.

A useful test follows from the wording. Picture the same exchange reversed. Would you accept, as the buyer, the measure you are now giving as the seller? If the answer comes quickly and calmly, the ayah has done its work. If you hesitate, you have found the exact place where 'when you measure' was written for you.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.