How can the heart reach tranquility and contentment when facing unexpected calamities, and how can one work for the afterlife in the presence of successive misfortunes? What is the desired benefit from punishing the oppressor after harm has occurred, and how can one attain the love of Allah instead of fearing Him?

Ibn al-Qayyim explains that the path of contentment (rida) is concise and leads to a great goal. Its difficulty lies in the need for high resolve, a pure soul, and conditioning oneself to accept what comes from Allah. This is facilitated by the servant's knowledge of their own weakness and incapacity, and their realization of Allah's mercy and benevolence towards them. If the servant does not accept and surrender to Allah, then they are an expelled or afflicted soul.

Blessings and afflictions are equal in acceptance (rida) for several reasons, including: entrusting matters to Allah and knowing His wisdom and mercy, believing that there is no repeller of His decree, the servant being pure and not resenting their Master's decrees, the servant's sincere love for their Lord, the servant's ignorance of the consequences of matters and their Lord's knowledge of what benefits them, Allah's desire for the servant's welfare even in what they dislike, the servant's submission and surrender of their affairs to Allah, their good opinion of their Lord, their knowledge that their share of what is decreed depends on their contentment or discontentment, and that contentment transforms affliction into a blessing and lightens its burden, and their belief that Allah's decree is always good for them, and that the completeness of their servitude is manifest in their acceptance of what they dislike, and that their contentment with their Lord brings Allah's contentment with them, and that contentment brings comfort and joy, while discontentment brings worry and grief, and that contentment leads to tranquility and peace of heart.