22 – al-Ḥusayn narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; he said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Marwazī, a man from Marw, narrated to me; he said: Hafṣ ibn Ḥumayd said: I was with ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak in Kūfa when his wife died. I asked him, “What is riḍā (contentment)?” He answered, “Contentment is not wishing for a state other than one’s own.”

Then Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh came and offered his condolences to ʿAbd Allāh. Hafṣ said: I did not recognize him. ʿAbd Allāh said, “Ask him about the matter we were discussing.” So I asked him, and he replied, “Whoever speaks nothing but words of contentment is content.”

Hafṣ added: I asked al-Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ, and he said, “That is for the elect.”