The Scales and the Bridge

And then it is said that after the reckoning there is the weighing in the balance. Once everything has been shown, then actions are put into scales — and the scholars say that Allah knows best what their reality is. And if the right actions outweigh the bad, then you are given a book in your right hand, and it is the book of your actions; and if the wrong actions outweigh, then you are given a book in your left hand.

At that point you go to what is called a ṣirāṭ, which is the plain. It is a bridge over which the valley of jahannam lies, and the bridge, in the tradition, is said to be sharper than a sword. And everybody will have to go across this bridge. Everyone. And there are angels on the bridge who shout to people.

And the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that there are people who will go like light — they will go at the speed of light across the bridge; he said ka-l-barq, like lightning, they go right across it. There are other people, he said, who will go like a wind. There are other people who will go running. There are other people who will go walking. There are other people who will go crawling. And then there are other people who will not make it across, into the pit.

And then on the other side of the ṣirāṭ there is what is called a ḥawḍ. The ḥawḍ is a huge basin, and according to the tradition anyone who drinks from it will never have thirst after that. And there is also a tradition that on that day death is brought before everybody in the form of a lamb, and is slaughtered; and so there is no death after that.

Thirsting: the idea is that only God can quench the thirst. And if one was attempting to quench the thirst in this world by other than God, then one failed in what one's task was — which was to be quenched through closeness, and not distance. So it goes back to this idea of raḥmah, mercy, and wrath: that you bring wrath upon yourself. That is really the idea. God is not punishing people to punish them; people literally take themselves to their final destinies. That is very strong in the tradition.