Qadā is interpreted in ten ways:
1. Qadā is used in the sense of recommendation; as in the following verses:
Your Lord qadā (that is, recommended): Worship none but Him... (al-Isrāʾ 17:23)
When We qadā (that is, recommended by appointing Moses and assigning him the duty of messenger to Pharaoh and his people) that command to Moses, you were not on the western side. (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:44)
2. Qadā is used in the sense of informing; as in the following verses:
We qadā (that is, informed) the Children of Israel in the Book (that is, the Torah): You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice... (al-Isrāʾ 17:4)
We qadā (that is, informed Lūṭ of Our covenant/decision): By morning, they will surely be cut off. (al-Ḥijr 15:66)
3. Qadā means farāgh (to finish, to complete, to be done); as in the following verses:
When you qadā your manāsik (that is, when you have completed/finished your rites of ḥajj)... (al-Baqara 2:200)
When you qadā the prayer (that is, when you have completed/finished the prayer)... (al-Nisāʾ 4:103)
When the prayer is qadā (that is, when the obligatory Friday prayer is completed/finished)... (al-Jumuʿa 62:10)
When its recitation is qadā (that is, when the Prophet had completed the recitation of the Qur'an), they returned to their people as warners. (al-Aḥqāf 46:29)
4. Qadā is used in the sense of action (to do, to perform); as in the following verses:
So qadā whatever you are going to qadā (that is, do whatever you are going to do to us). You can only qadā in this worldly life (that is, you can only do something in this present, temporary life). (Ṭā-Hā 20:72)
But Allah qadā (that is, to do what He has decreed in His knowledge) a command that must be carried out... (al-Anfāl 8:42)
When He qadā a matter (that is, when He is about to do what He has decreed in His knowledge), He only says to it, "Be," and it is. (Āl ʿImrān 3:47)
A similar example is found in Sūrat Maryam.
When Allah and His Messenger qadā a matter (that is, when Allah and His Messenger are about to do something regarding the marriage of Zaynab), they do not have any choice in their affair. (al-Aḥzāb 33:36)
5. Qadā is used in the sense of nuzūl (to descend); as in the following verses:
O Mālik! Let your Lord qadā upon us (that is, let death descend upon us / let Him cause us to die)! (al-Zukhruf 43:77)
Death is not qadā upon them (that is, death does not descend upon them) so that they would die. (Fāṭir 35:36)
When We qadā death upon him (that is, when We caused death to descend upon him)... (Sabaʾ 34:14)
Moses struck him with his fist and qadā upon him (that is, caused death to descend upon him). (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:15)
6. Qadā means to be obligatory/necessary, to be required; as in the following verses:
The command was qadā (that is, the punishment became necessary; it befell the people of Noah). And (the matter was settled, the ship) rested upon al-Jūdī (a high mountain). (Hūd 11:44)
Warn them of the Day of Regret when the command will be qadā (that is, when the punishment will become necessary and befall the people of the Fire). (Maryam 19:39)
When the command is qadā (that is, when the punishment becomes necessary and befalls the people of the Fire), Satan will say:... (Ibrāhīm 14:22)
The command you sought a ruling about has been qadā (that is, that matter has become necessary / it is required that the matter be realized in this way). (Yūsuf 12:41)
7. Qadā is used in the sense of writing; as in the following verse about the situation of Jesus:
It is a qadā matter (that is, the birth of Jesus without a father is a matter qadā by Allah: it is written in the Preserved Tablet that he will exist). (Maryam 19:21)
8. Qadā is used in the sense of completing; as in the following verses:
When Moses qadā the term (that is, when Moses completed the condition)... (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:29)
Whichever of the two terms I qadā (that is, complete)... (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:28)
He knows what you earn by day. Then He awakens you at night so that a fixed term may be qadā (that is, completed). (al-Anʿām 6:60)
Do not hasten with the Qur'an before its revelation is qadā to you (that is, before Gabriel has completed the task of revelation to you). (Ṭā-Hā 20:114)
Some of them qadā their vow (that is, fulfilled/completed it). (al-Aḥzāb 33:23)
9. Qadā means faṣl (to separate, to distinguish); as in the following verses:
Judgment will be qadā between them in truth (that is, they will be separated/distinguished in truth)... (al-Zumar 39:69)
The command will be qadā (that is, separation between me and you by punishment), then they will not be reprieved. (al-Anʿām 6:8)
When their messengers came to them, judgment was qadā between them with justice (that is, they were separated/distinguished). (Yūnus 10:47)
Indeed, your Lord will qadā between them on the Day of Resurrection (that is, He will separate/distinguish between them). (Yūnus 10:93)
10. Qadā is used in the sense of creating; as in the following verse:
Thus He qadā them as seven heavens (that is, He created them). (Fussilat 41:12)