How can we reconcile God’s promise to believers of a good life with the fact that the prophets, and then the most exemplary, are the people most afflicted by tribulation?

Allah's testing of believers does not contradict their happiness and honor; rather, it is a cause for expiating sins and elevating ranks. Patient believers strive to overcome trials through endurance, supplication, and steadfastness in acts of worship, and they remain at ease and tranquil. Examples of this include the trials of Ibrahim, Ayub, Bilal, and the People of the Ditch. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, while in prison, said: "What can my enemies do to me? My paradise is in my heart. If they kill me, it is martyrdom; if they expel me, it is a journey; if they imprison me, it is seclusion." And some of the Salaf said: "If kings and sons of kings knew the happiness we are in, they would fight us for it with swords."