How can the noble verse, "And whatever strikes you of disaster – it is because of what your [own] hands have earned. And He pardons much" (Quran 42:30), be reconciled with the noble Hadith, "The most severely tested people are the prophets, then those who come next to them [in righteousness]..."? And are the calamities that befall a person a trial for those who are close to Allah, or are they because of what their hands have earned?

There is no contradiction between the verse (And whatever calamity befalls you, it is because of what your hands have earned, and He pardons much) and the hadith "The most severely tested among people are the prophets." The verse speaks of calamities that occur as a punishment for sins. What afflicts a servant in this world due to their sins, Allah pardons much of it, or it serves as a punishment for which they will not be punished again in the Hereafter. As for the hadith, it speaks of trials (ibtila') with which Allah tests His righteous servants, especially the prophets, to elevate their status and increase their reward, and so that they may be an example for others in patience.