The beauty of snow leading to contemplations on duality

It's late evening and I'm feeling a little mellow. It's been snowing since 2 hours ago and now the ground is white as snow. The lochen is almost frozen over and covered with snow as well. Again, I find myself thinking of God's beauty which is reflected in the beauty of His creation.

Yet, each of His creation is a double edged sword. There has been people stranded in the snowstorms around Britain this week and a boy died falling through the ice. In Australia, they are battling yet another creation of His; the fire whose usefulness to human is enormous. I heard about 96 people are believed to have died and the body count is expected to rise. Similarly, humans too, as His ultimate creation, tasked to be His viceroy on Earth, have both good and dark sides.

It is a philosophical question, but why does God create as such? In Islam, God has 99 names, much of which are reflections of His attributes and characters. Take for example:

Al-Qaabid
The Constricter, The Retainer, The Withholder, The One who constricts the sustenance by His wisdomand expands and widens it with His Generosity and Mercy.
Al-Baasit
The Expander, The Englarger, The One who constricts the sustenance by His wisdomand expands and widens it with His Generosity and Mercy.

or

Al-Khaafid
The Abaser, The One who lowers whoever He willed by His Destruction and raises whoever He willed by His Endowment.
Ar-Raafi
The Exalter, The Elevator, The One who lowers whoever He willed by His Destruction and raises whoever He willed by His Endowment.

Many of His attributes are again coupled, a dual quality that allows us to appreciate the contrast in order to develop a deeper understanding. I believe it is something that God devised for us especially. Unlike His other creations like the other living things on this Earth, we make choices based on our rationality. As Descarte said, "I think therefore I am." In the Qur'an, this appeal to our thinking or reasoning is very much apparent.

Duality is central to life in this universe. In physics, you have push-pull forces. Then there is the concept of expansion and contraction. Positive and negative. In finance, a call and a put option. In OR, there is maximization and minimization, primal and dual problems to be solved. Hot and cold. Male and female. I found this webpage on duality that I really like in which the author succintly states

"Why does this Law of Duality exist at all? Simply because if we didn’t have duality, we would not yearn and strive for wholeness and unity. In other words, we would not be impelled to return to the unmanifested Source of Being."

Sidenote: I believe that the universe and us are manifestations of His attributes and characters, though not of His Essence.