إِنّا كُلَّ شَيءٍ خَلَقناهُ بِقَدَرٍ
Indeed We have created everything in a measure.
EXEGESIS
Qadar (measure): the root word qadara means to have the power to perform or not perform an action.[1] From this root, several words are extracted. Qudrah refers to the power itself and taqdīr means applying one’s power to some referent in external reality. This exertion of power can be seen as actualising a phenomenon based on the limits one wills and choses.[2] Based on that, the qadar of something is what is determined for it in terms of its precise dimension, measure, time, and other boundaries that it cannot cross. It may not exceed it nor fall short of it.[3] It is a result of taqdīr and exerting qudrah.[4]
EXPOSITION
This verse describes that everything has been created in a specific and precise measure, based on the infinite wisdom of Allah (see also 13:8, 15:21, 25:2, 33:38, and 65:3). As such, everything in this realm has a specific boundary or limit that it cannot cross, to the extent that even every drop of water that falls from the sky in the form of rain is based on precise measurement. Not an atom’s weight escapes your Lord in the earth or in the sky, nor [is there] anything smaller than that nor bigger, but it is in a manifest book (10:61). This was also indicated in verse 12 of this chapter when mention was made of how the flood of Prophet Noah (a) was based on qadar.
The verse is warning the deniers that they should not be deceived by the respite given to them despite their defiance, since in the book of God everything has its defined limits and comes about in its determined time. And when the measured time comes, it will happen like a blink of the eye. There is a [preordained] time for every nation: when their time comes, they shall not defer it by a single hour nor shall they advance it (7:34).
It is also stated that[5] what is meant by this verse is that since everything in creation is created in an accurate proportion, the entering of the guilty into the hellfire is also based on wise, judicious, and accurate measurements and precise laws, which are based principally on the realisation of truth against falsehood.[6] In other words, God has created the system of the cosmos based on justice and truth; Do they not reflect within themselves? Allah did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them but with truth (30:8), and it is precisely because of such a system that the guilty criminals shall be recompensed with hellfire.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- It has been reported that Imam al-Hasan (a) was asked about the verse, Indeed We have created everything in a measure, and he said: ‘Verily, Allah says, We have created everything in a measure for the dwellers of hell according to their deeds.’[7]
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Some exegetes have suggested that perhaps the link with the previous verse is that this verse is a response to a possible question that might arise in the mind of the reader. The question is, is it not the case that the punishment of the fire described previously is too extreme for the act of rejecting the messenger of God? The response in this verse is that the punishment, just like everything else, is based on a precise measurement and is not arbitrary and thus should not be considered as extreme.[8]
Some exegetes have understood this verse as a reference to everything being preordained and preserved in the protected tablet before coming into existence.[9]
Others mention that this verse is indicating that everything has been created with a purpose and has been created in such a manner that it can fulfil that purpose. For example, the tongue has been created for speech, legs for walking, eyes for seeing, and ears for listening. If the creation had been in any way different, it would not have been fit for its objective.[10] Others add that qadar refers to the preordained lifespan in that everything has been created with a specific and set lifespan.[11]
The Sufi exegete Ibn ʿAjībah states regarding this verse: ‘It washes the heart of sorrows and of all that is other [than God], and relieves the servant from the toil of [trying to] arrange and choose, because when a person of intellect knows with the knowledge of certainty [102:5] that his affairs and his states and all that comes upon him has been embraced by the measure (qadar), with nothing preceding or coming after its [measured] moment, he entrusts his affair to God [an allusion to 40:44], surrenders to the decrees (aḥkām) of his Master, and meets all that comes upon him with contentment (riḍā) and acceptance, be it good or evil.’[12]
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.[13]
- I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.[14]
[1] Tahqiq, 9/205.
[2] Tahqiq, 9/206.
[3] Mizan, 19/85.
[4] Tahqiq, 9/206.
[5] Razi, 29/325.
[6] Munyah, 27/223.
[7] Tawhid, 1/382.
[8] Amthal, 17/345; Tibyan, 9/460.
[9] Safi, 5/105.
[10] Tabrisi, 5/194.
[11] Abu al-Futuh, 18/232.
[12] Nasr, p. 2378.
[13] Ecclesiastes 3:11.
[14] Ecclesiastes 3:17.