Surah 57. Al-Hadid, Ayah 22

I.e., "the earth or mankind as a whole, or any of you individually": an allusion to natural as well as man-made catastrophes, and to individual suffering through illness, moral or material deprivation, etc.

I.e., God's decreeing an event and bringing it into being.

For baraa, 'to bring into existence', and other words denoting Allah's creative energy, see n. 120 to ii. 117; n. 916 to vi. 94; and n. 923 to vi. 98.

External disasters or misfortunes may strike people's eye or imagination, but there are worse crisis and misfortunes in the spiritual world, which are of equal or greater importance to man's future. All this happens according to the Will and Plan of Allah. Even where we are allowed the exercise of our own wills, the consequences that follow are in accordance with the laws and Plan decreed by Allah beforehand.