the Most High says:

“But if you are patient and fear Allah, their schemes will not harm you at all.”

And the Most High says:

“But if you are patient and fear Allah—indeed, that is a matter requiring firm resolve.”

And Joseph said:

“Indeed, whoever fears Allah and is patient—Allah does not allow the reward of those who do good to be lost.”

The point here is that what al-Qushayrī relates from al-Nasrābādī is among the finest statements: “Whoever wishes to attain the station of contentment should adhere to that in which Allah has placed His pleasure.” The same applies to the statement of Shaykh Abū Sulaymān: “When the servant no longer longs for pleasures, he is content.”

What prevents the servant from acceptance and contentment is his soul’s craving for superfluous pleasures: when he does not obtain them, he becomes discontented. Once he ceases to long for his soul’s desires, he is content with the provision Allah has allotted him. Likewise, the statement he relates from al-Fudayl ibn ʿIyād, addressed to Bishr al-Hāfī, is sound: “Contentment is better than renunciation of worldly things, because the contented person does not wish for a station above his own.” However, I doubt that Bishr al-Hāfī heard directly from al-Fudayl.

The same applies to what he relates without a chain of transmission. He says:

“Al-Shiblī said in al-Junayd’s presence, ‘There is no power nor strength except through Allah.’

“Al-Junayd replied, ‘Your saying this expresses distress, and distress arises from failing to accept the divine decree.’”

This is among the finest statements. Al-Junayd—may Allah be pleased with him—was the leader of the Sufi community and among its finest teachers, educators, and guides. This is because these words are an expression of seeking help, not a declaration that we belong to Allah and to Him we return. Many people, however, say them when calamities strike, treating them like that declaration, and utter them out of anguish rather than patience. Thus al-Junayd