Ibn 'Abbâs (may Allah be pleased with them): when the Prophet ﷺ came to Medina, its people were the worst at measuring.
Then Allah revealed: “Woe to the defrauders.” After that, Ibn 'Abbâs says, they measured well.
Woe to those who give less than due,
who, when they take a measure from people, take it in full,
but when they measure or weigh for them, they cause them loss.
Look at the portrait: one man, two hands. Full when he takes, short when he gives.
Ibn Kathîr explains the word: being stingy with measure and weight, taking more when owed, giving less when owing.
No one robs a sack here. A scale leans a little, quietly, sale after sale.
Do they not think that they will be raised again
for a tremendous Day,
the Day mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?
The Prophet ﷺ described that standing, reciting this very verse.
“…until one of them is lost in his sweat up to the middle of his ears.”
The answer to the cheat is not a fine. It is a question: do they not think they will be raised again?
The verse speaks of measures and weights. Today, a measure is also a photo, a quantity, a delivery date.
Whatever you hand over by a measure, the other person is owed the full measure you would want for yourself.
Two scales in one shop: a generous one when you buy, a stingy one when you sell.
Why does the Qur'an open a whole sûra with the word “woe” for this trader?
One man, two hands: what you demand for yourself is the measure you owe to others.
Tonight, find one place in your work where you give less than you would accept, and fix it.