Quran Universe
15:4

وَمَآ أَهۡلَكۡنَا مِن قَرۡيَةٍ إِلَّا وَلَهَا كِتَابٞ مَّعۡلُومٞ

Wama ahlakna min qaryatin illa walaha kitabun maAAloomun

And We did not destroy any city but that for it was a known decree.

Word by word
  1. وَمَآAnd not
  2. أَهۡلَكۡنَاWe destroyed
  3. مِنany
  4. قَرۡيَةٍtown
  5. إِلَّاbut
  6. وَلَهَا(there was) for it
  7. كِتَابٞa decree
  8. مَّعۡلُومٞknown
Al-Hijr · 15:4Makkah

Every town that fell had a known decree.

Nothing ends by accident

Before a town falls
a towngiven evidence
has
a known decreeits written term
then
its endwhen the term is over
How it really works
random collapsebad luck
warned, then timedevidence first, then the term

Ibn Kathir says Allah never destroys a town until He has given it clear evidence and its time has run out. This was a warning to the people of Makkah to leave their stubbornness while they still could.

You notice the doctor's warnings, the friend who keeps saying something is off, the small signs at work. Warnings come before endings. Hearing them is a mercy, not a nuisance.

Bad endings just happen out of nowhere.

Allah sends signs first; the end comes only after the term is written and met.

Try this

Think of one warning someone gave you recently. Take it seriously for a day.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And never did We destroy a township but there was a known decree for it (4)No nation can advance its term, nor delay it (5)

Every Township has its allotted Time

Allah is informing us that He never destroys a township until He has established evidences for it and its allotted time has ended. When the time for a nation's destruction has come, He never delays it, and He never moves its appointed time forward. This was a message and a warning to the people of Makkah, telling them to give up their Shirk, their stubbornness and disbelief for which they deserved to be destroyed.