And he also said:
“Contentment before the decree is entrustment, and contentment once the decree has arrived is surrender.” (1)

Al-Bayhaqi, with his chain to him, reports that he was asked about the saying, “Hearts are naturally disposed to love those who treat them well.” He replied, “How astonishing that someone who has seen no benefactor but Allah does not incline toward Him with his whole being!” (2)

I say: this ḥadith is not sound, yet his comment on it is fine. (3)

His son Saʿīd recounted: “I once asked my father for a single dānaq of silver. He said, ‘My son, be patient. Had your father wished that kings ride to his door, they would not have refused.’” (4)

The ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir (5) likewise narrates from him: “I was once overcome by severe hunger and thought of asking Allah for food. Then I said to myself, ‘That conflicts with tawakkul (trustful reliance),’ so I thought of asking Him for patience instead. At that moment a voice called out:
He claims that he is near to Us—
that We never forsake the one who comes to Us;
Yet he begs Us earnestly for food and for patience,
as though We do not see him and he does not see Us.
(6)
“So I rose and walked several parasangs with no provisions at all.”

Abū Saʿīd al-Kharrāz also said: “The lover finds every excuse to draw near to the Beloved and is consoled by nothing that distracts from Him. He follows His traces and never stops inquiring after Him.” Then he recited (7):
I ask you about her—can anyone give me news?
Since we left Mecca I have no word of Nuʿmā.
If only I knew where her people pitched their tent,
what land of Allah they sought when they departed, (8)
I would speed like the wind along their trail,
even if Nuʿmā lay beyond the very stars at dawn.