Shaykh al-Islām was asked about provision:

“Does it increase or decrease? Is it what a person eats or what he owns?”

He answered:

Provision is of two kinds:

The first is what Allah knows He will provide for a person. This does not change.

The second is what He has recorded and made known to the angels. This increases and decreases according to the means involved. Allah commands the angels to record a certain provision for a person; if he maintains his ties of kinship, Allah increases it beyond that amount. As recorded in the Sahīh, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever would be pleased to have his provision increased and his life prolonged should maintain his ties of kinship.”

Likewise, David’s lifespan was increased by sixty years: Allah made it one hundred years after it had been forty.

Another example of this is the supplication of ‘Umar:

“O Allah, if You have recorded me as wretched, erase that and record me as blessed, for You erase whatever You will and confirm whatever You will.”

Another example is what Allah Most High relates from Noah:

“Worship Allah, fear Him, and obey me.”

“He will forgive you some of your sins and grant you respite until an appointed term.”

There is abundant evidence for this. The means through which provision is obtained are themselves among the things Allah has decreed and recorded. If He has already decreed that He will provide for a person through his efforts and earnings, He inspires him to strive and earn.