In this excerpt from his book of admonitions, Qurṭubī deploys a Prophetic ḥadīth, “This is not a reckoning, it’s a [simple] exposure (ʿarḍ),” to explain Q. 84:7–9 (“As for one who is given his book in his right hand, he will be reckoned with an easy reckoning and will return to his people joyful”). In his chapter comparing earthly justice with heavenly justice in the early Islamic imagination in Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, Christian Lange uses this source to highlight the ways in which medieval exegetes sought to avoid anthropomorphic interpretations of the Quran. He also points to Qurṭubī’s efforts to alleviate the concern that even true believers will undergo a reckoning (ḥisāb) as indicated inQ. 84:7–9 by arguing that it is only enemies of God who attempt to engage in disputation (jidāl) in order to evade divine judgment.
This source is part of the Online Companion to the book Justice and Leadership in Early Islamic Courts, ed. Intisar A. Rabb and Abigail Krasner Balbale(ILSP/HUP 2017)—a collection of primary sources and other material used in and related to the book.