anything.”

Such a situation does occur at times: rain may fall in abundance, yet Allah places no blessing in it, and the earth neither sprouts nor comes to life. This is exactly what the hadith recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim conveys: “Rather, the year of hardship is that you are rained upon and the earth produces nothing.”

The One who sends down the life-giving rain (ghayth) is Allah, and the Sender knows precisely when it will descend. As for the weather reports we hear on the radio—“Rain is expected in such-and-such an area,” and the like—these are merely educated guesses based on atmospheric measurements that indicate the probability of precipitation. The instruments are indeed sophisticated, enabling experts to judge whether conditions are favorable for rain; yet they still err frequently, being unable to predict showers that will occur months or even years later. When the timeframe is near and the location close at hand, none but Allah knows exactly when the rain will fall.

“He knows what is in the wombs.” None knows what is in the wombs except Allah. The embryos there pass through stages: some matters may become known once the fetus exists, even while still in the mother’s belly, while others remain forever hidden. Whether the child is male or female can be discovered while it is still in the womb, but only after Allah creates the distinguishing signs of masculinity or femininity.

As for the moment of birth, whether the child will emerge alive or stillborn, whether he will remain long in this world or only a short while, whether his deeds will be righteous or corrupt, whether his final state will be bliss or misery, and whether his provision will be ample or constrained—every bit of that is known only to Allah.