Allah, the Almighty, said:

{O reassured soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him].} [al-Fajr 89:27-28]

He (the Almighty) did not leave any path to Himself for the resentful, and made contentment a condition for the seeker.

Contentment is a name for the sincere compliance of the servant by standing where they are placed, without seeking any advance or retreat and without seeking any increase or recourse (change of states). It is one of the beginning stations of the path of the elite, and one of the hardest for the common people. It is of three levels:

The first level: the riḍâ of the public, which is being pleased with Allah as the Lord, and resenting the worship of anything else. This is the pole of the mill (axis) of Islam. It purifies one from major shirk. It is validated by three conditions:

1. that Allah is the most beloved thing to the servant


2. that He is the most glorified thing to him/her


3. that He is the most deserving of his/her obedience

The second level: being pleased with (the decrees of) Allah. This is the riḍâ that is mentioned in the Revelation. This means to be content with all of the destinies that He has decreed. It is one of the beginning stations on the path of the elite. It is validated by three conditions:

1. the evenness of all situations in the sight of the servant²⁹²


2. cessation of all disputation with the creations


3. riddance from demanding and doggedness

The third level: being pleased with Allah’s pleasure,²⁹³ so the servant is no longer seeing any personal entitlement to pleasure or displeasure, which motivates him/her to:

1. abandon (the pursuit of) control²⁹⁴


2. give up choice²⁹⁵


3. drop all of his/her discernments,²⁹⁶ even if they were led into the fire

²⁹² Not that they will feel the same to him/her, but they will not distract them, slow them down, or change their direction; and with more riyâḍah (exercise) and tawfeeq (Divine assistance), all events in the dunyâ feel less and less significant.
Additionally, while one should always be accepting of Allah’s decrees and should never question His ultimate wisdom and benevolence, this does not mean that one will not show concern for human suffering. One also should not be content or pleased with injustice or sin. One should not be indifferent to truth and falsehood. There are countless verses and reports indicating that the pinnacle of all virtues, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, was concerned for humanity and was never indifferent to truth and falsehood, virtue and vice, or obedience and sin.
²⁹³ For the sheikh (may Allah be pleased with him), the peak of the path is self-annihilation. Thus, he considers this riḍâ the ultimate form of riḍâ, whereby the servant has no riḍâ or discontentment, but rather his/her will vanishes into that of Allah’s. The sanctioned fanâ’ is the complete conformity of one’s will to that of his/her Lord. It is important for the baqâ’ (subsistence) by Allah, with Him, and for Him.
²⁹⁴ Being content with his/her Lord being in control, one seeks not to control.
²⁹⁵ Since he/she is a mufawwiḍ, who has delegated their affairs to their Lord: the Omniscient, Omnipotent, and All-Benevolent.
²⁹⁶ This is not to get rid of the natural perceptions of pain and comfort, but to make all such perceptions irrelevant to their progress and almost unfelt because of their distraction by their ultimate goal, upon which their eyes and hearts are fixated.