Allah Most High has said:

“Or were they created from nothing, or are they themselves the creators?”

[Surah al-Tūr: 35]

The well-known interpretation is: “Were they created without a Lord?” Another interpretation is: “Were they created without a material source?”

Likewise, when Moses (1) killed the Copt, he said:

“This is of Satan’s doing.”

[Surah al-Qasas: 15]

Allah Most High also said:

“Whatever good befalls you is from Allah, and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself.”

[Surah al-Nisā: 79]

This is alongside His preceding statement:

“Say, ‘All is from Allah.’”

[Surah al-Nisā: 78]

The good and evil referred to here (2) mean blessings and calamities. This is why He said, “what befalls you,” not “what you do.” This is also seen in His statement:

“If good touches you, it grieves them; but if evil befalls you, they rejoice in it.”

[Surah Āl Imrān: 120]

And His statement:

“If good befalls you, it grieves them; but if a calamity befalls you, they say, ‘We took our precautions beforehand,’ and turn away rejoicing.”

[Surah al-Tawba: 50]

He thus made clear that blessings and calamities are from Allah. A blessing is from Allah in the first instance, whereas a calamity is due to a cause within man himself—namely, his acts of disobedience (3). As He said in the other verse:

“Whatever calamity befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned, and He pardons much.”

[Surah al-Shūrā: 30]

And in the verse] (4)—the other one (5)—He said: