01The sign
The Quran presents every deed as precisely accounted for, however small it may be.
In physics, work done against gravity depends on an object's weight and its vertical displacement.
02Scientific evidence
Work by gravity
In the absence of other forces, gravity results in a constant downward acceleration of every freely moving object. Near Earth's surface the acceleration due to gravity is g = 9.8 m/s² and the gravitational force on an object of mass m is Fg = mg. It is convenient to imagine this gravitational force concentrated at the center of mass of the object. If an object is displaced upwards or downwards a vertical distance y₂ − y₁, the work W done on the object by its weight mg is: W = Fg (y₂-y₁) = Fg Δy = - mg Δy where Fg is weight (pounds in imperial units, and newtons in SI units), and Δy is the change in height y. Notice that the work done by gravity depends only on the vertical movement of the object. The presence of friction does not affect the work done on the object by its weight.
For vertical motion, gravitational work is calculated from weight and displacement. The verses do not state this physics equation; the meaningful parallel is that an action is described with the precise language of weight.
03Qur'an passage · Quran 99:7-8
فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ ٧ وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ ٨
Whoever does work of an atom's weight of good will see it. And whoever does work of an atom's weight of evil will see it.
04Reflection
“Yaʿmal يَعْمَلْ” comes from the root ع-م-ل and means “does,” “acts,” or “performs a deed.” “Mithqāl مِثْقَال” comes from the root ث-ق-ل, whose central meaning is heaviness or weight; here it means a measured weight, not a vague amount.
The Quran itself completes the connection. “Wazn وَزْن” (weighing) and “mawāzīn مَوَازِين” (scales) come from the root و-ز-ن. Quran 99:7-8 joins doing good or evil with its smallest measured weight. Quran 21:47 says the just scales will be set up and even the weight of a mustard seed will be brought forth. Quran 7:8-9, 23:102-103, and 101:6-9 describe scales becoming heavy or light. Read together, the meaning is unambiguous: every ʿamal—every deed or action—will be brought into Allah’s exact and just weighing and accounting; not even the smallest deed will be lost.
05 · Ponder