And He, Most High, says:

“We did not create the heaven and the earth and all that is between them in vain. That is the assumption of those who disbelieve. So woe to those who disbelieve because of the Fire!” {27} [Sād 27]

And He, Most High, says of the believers who say:

“Our Lord, You did not create this in vain. Glory be to You! Protect us, then, from the punishment of the Fire.” {191} [Āl ʿImrān 191]

And He, Most High, says:

“Allah is He who created seven heavens, and of the earth their like. His command descends among them so that you may know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah encompasses all things in knowledge.” {12} [al-Talāq 12]

He said: ‘This is an explicit statement that He created these things only so that He might be known through them and worshipped.’ He said in reply: ‘The lām in His saying, “He created seven heavens, and of the earth their like. His command descends among them so that you may know” [al-Talāq 12], does not indicate purpose. Rather, it is the lām of outcome and denotes an end result: namely, that those whom He knows will come to know should come to know and be rewarded for that, while those whom He knows will oppose should turn away and oppose; and “so that He may recompense those who do evil for what they have done, and reward those who do good with the best reward.” {31} [al-Najm 31]’”

I say: The lām of outcome applies to someone who does not intend the outcome. This can only be either because the agent is unaware of that outcome—as in His saying, “Pharaoh’s household picked him up so that he would become an enemy to them” [al-Qasas 8]—or because he is unable to avert it, even though he dislikes it, as in the words: