[Regarding Provision]

The answer – and Allah is the One who grants success – is that Allah, glorified and exalted, Who is All-Knowing, All-Wise, has guaranteed the provision of animals and apportioned for them that which suffices them. Hence He, exalted is He, said: “Indeed, all things We created according to a decree.” [al-Qamar:49] And He said: “And He apportioned therein its provisions.” [Fussilat:10] And He said: “And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision.” [Hud:6]
However, the actual obtaining of provision is, in most cases, tied to seeking it and to the presence of a cause, due to what Allah, exalted is He, knows of benefits for His servants in that. Among these benefits are: the obligations and trials related to wealth – such as honesty in buying and selling, refraining from false oaths, abandoning cheating and deception, refraining from usury in that – and also the cultivation of the earth by making some of them subservient to others, the selection of those who are accountable, and distinguishing the treacherous from the trustworthy, and so on, of innumerable great benefits that result from this.
Thus Allah, glorified is He, has guaranteed provision for His servants and guided them to its causes and ways. Hence He, exalted is He, said: “Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High, Who created and proportioned, and Who destined and guided.” [al-A‘la:1–3] So for every kind of animal He has decreed its provisions for it and guided it to attain its provision and obtain it. Look at the ant, how it is guided to its provision; and likewise the various kinds of birds and other animals. Then look at the newborns of animals, how they are guided to their provision which Allah, exalted is He, has placed for them. Such is the way of Allah in this world. From this comes Allah’s command to Mary to shake the palm tree.
Yes, what we have mentioned is a general statement. As for the worker, he is like other animals: Allah, exalted is He, has created him with an innate disposition to walk the path of seeking provision and to engage in the means of attaining it. Thus Allah, exalted is He, said: “And indeed he is, in love of wealth, intense.” [al-‘Adiyat:8] And He said: “And you love wealth with immense love.” [al-Fajr:20] And He said: “Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire – of women and children and heaped-up sums of gold and silver…” [Al ‘Imran:14] and so on from other verses.
Therefore, a human being’s provision is written for him on condition that he seeks it. Hence Allah, exalted is He, said: “Then disperse through the land and seek from the bounty of Allah.” [al-Jumu‘ah:10] And He said: “There is no blame upon you for seeking the bounty of your Lord.” [al-Baqarah:198]
There is, moreover, another type of provision that comes without seeking, such as that which the poor are given from obligatory alms (zakāt), and supererogatory charity, and vows, and grants, and gifts, and hospitality, and maintenance given to children and the like, and other provisions that come spontaneously. And it has been related from the Commander of the Faithful (Peace be upon him) that he said: “Provision is of two kinds: a provision that you seek, and a provision that seeks you.” So that which you seek is the first, and that which seeks you is what we mentioned secondly.

Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3