A Question Concerning Predestination

Posed by a scholar from among the protected non-Muslims, who said:

O scholars of religion, a non-Muslim under your religion’s protection
Is bewildered; guide him with the clearest proof.

If my Lord has decreed my unbelief, as you claim,
Yet does not approve it from me, what recourse have I?

He called me, yet barred the door against me—is there
A way for me to enter? Explain my case to me.

He decreed my going astray, then said, “Be content with the decree.”
Yet I am not content with what brings me misery.

If, my people, I am content with what has been decreed,
My Lord does not approve my woeful affliction.

Can I be content with what my Master does not approve?
I am bewildered; show me how to dispel my perplexity.

If my Lord wills unbelief from me,
Am I disobedient in following His will?

Have I any choice to oppose His decree?
By Allah, then, cure my affliction with proofs.

Shaykh al-Islām, the shaykh, imam, learned and eminent scholar Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, replied extemporaneously:

Praise be to Allah, Lord of all worlds.