However, weeping over the deceased out of compassion is good and recommended, and does not conflict with contentment—unlike weeping because of one’s own loss. This clarifies the meaning of the Prophet’s words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when he wept over the deceased and said:

“This is a mercy that Allah has placed in the hearts of His servants. Allah shows mercy only to those of His servants who are merciful.”

Such weeping is not like that of someone who weeps over his own loss rather than out of compassion for the deceased.

When al-Fudayl ibn ʿIyād’s son ʿAlī died, he laughed and said: “I saw that Allah had decreed this, so I wished to be content with what Allah had decreed.” His state was good compared with that of those who give way to anguish. Yet showing compassion for the deceased while remaining content with the decree and praising Allah Most High—as the Prophet did, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is more perfect. As Allah Most High says:

“Then he is among those who believe and urge one another to patience and urge one another to compassion.”

Thus, He, glorified be He, mentions mutual encouragement to patience and compassion. People fall into “four categories”: some have patience accompanied by hardheartedness; some have compassion accompanied by anguish; and some combine hardheartedness with anguish. The praiseworthy believer, however, patiently endures whatever befalls him and shows compassion to others.

Some who have written on this subject have supposed that contentment with Allah follows from love for Him. This holds only according to the “first basis”: being content with Him because He intrinsically deserves it, while the servant sets aside all consideration of his own interests. It does not hold according to the “second basis”: being content because one knows that what has been decreed is good for oneself. Moreover, love is directed toward Him, whereas contentment concerns His decree. Nevertheless, in support of what this author and others like him have said, one might argue that love for Allah is of two kinds: