and He ordained for them their measures, and He fixed for them their appointed terms.

Allah—majestic and exalted—has predetermined every measure; nothing comes into existence without His decree. He says, “There is not a thing but that its treasuries are with Us, and We send it down only in due measure” (al-Hijr 15:21). Everything He brings into being is fashioned with precise, unchanging specifications. For the human being, Allah determined the body, the senses, the limbs, the constitution, and the weight, so that a person became a well-proportioned creature who can stand and walk. If any limb or internal arrangement were disrupted, the whole body would be thrown into disorder—and the same applies to every other created thing. “Everything with Him is by precise measure” (ar-Raʿd 13:8). Every entity is regulated by its own parameters, distinct from those of all others.

Created beings also have lifespans and an inevitable end. The Exalted says, “Everyone upon it will perish, yet there will remain the Face of your Lord, Possessor of Majesty and Honor” (ar-Raḥmān 55:26-27); and He says, “Everything will be destroyed except His Face” (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:88).

Every creature has a span of life, whether brief or long, that Allah—glorified be He—has set beforehand. He says, “No one granted a long life is allowed to live on, nor is anything of his lifespan curtailed, without it being in a Book; indeed, that is easy for Allah” (Fāṭir 35:11). Lifespans are entirely in His hand, and this testifies to the perfection of His Lordship and the perfection of His power: whatever He wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not—