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Then al-Qushayrī paired this established statement of Abū Sulaymān with a better one. Before relating it, he said: “Abū ‘Uthmān—meaning Abū ‘Uthmān al-Hīrī al-Naysābūrī—was asked about the Prophet’s words (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), ‘I ask You for contentment after Your decree.’ He replied, ‘Because contentment after the decree is true contentment.’” These words of Shaykh Abū ‘Uthmān are sound and well judged.
He then related, with a chain of transmission, that Shaykh Abū Sulaymān said: “I hope that I have come to know something of contentment: were He to cast me into the Fire, I would be content with that.”
It thus becomes clear that what Abū Sulaymān expressed is not contentment, but rather a resolve
ثمَّ ان الْقشيرِي قرن هَذِه الْكَلِمَة الثَّابِتَة عَن ابي سُلَيْمَان بِكَلِمَة احسن مِنْهَا فَإِنَّهُ قبل ان يَرْوِيهَا قَالَ وَسُئِلَ ابو عُثْمَان يَعْنِي ابا عُثْمَان الْحِيرِي النَّيْسَابُورِي عَن قَول النَّبِي صلى الله عَلَيْهِ وَسلم أَسأَلك الرِّضَا بعد الْقَضَاء فَقَالَ لِأَن الرِّضَا بعد الْقَضَاء هُوَ الرِّضَا فَهَذَا الَّذِي قَالَه الشَّيْخ ابو عُثْمَان كَلَام حسن سديد
ثمَّ اسند بعد هَذَا عَن الشَّيْخ ابي سُلَيْمَان انه قَالَ ارجو ان اكون عرفت طرفا من الرِّضَا لَو انه ادخلني النَّار لَكُنْت بذلك رَاضِيا
فَتبين بذلك ان مَا قَالَه ابو سُلَيْمَان لَيْسَ هُوَ رضى وانما هُوَ عزم