Sadia Dehlvi

Abu Said ibn Khair, famed mystic of the early 11th century, said: “Sufism is glory in wretchedness and richness in poverty and lordship in servitude and satiety in hunger and clothedness in nakedness and freedom in slavery and life in death and sweetness in bitterness”. Those who love the Lord believe that both afflictions and bounties come from Him and that His kindness embraces all creations.

One of the basic principles of the Sufi way is rida, contentment with the Divine decree. The Prophet said: “Contentment is an inexhaustible treasure”. Many people live with rancour in their hearts because of the way life has treated them. A “why me” attitude essentially denies God’s omnipotence and the acceptance that God alone decrees all things. No one has the ability to choose what will befall him/her, but we can choose our responses to tribulations that come our way.
The Sufi Bayazid of Bistam told followers, “If you have a friend whose relationship with you is at its worst, the relationship will improve if you act according to the right code of behaviour. If something is given to you, be thankful to Allah, because He alone turns hearts in your favour. If you suffer calamity, take refuge in repentance and patience, because your being will gather strength”.
The Islamic tradition defines the four states that human beings live in. One is either receiving blessings or tribulations, living in obedience or disobedience. The qalb, or the heart, means something that turns. It is an organ that is constantly turning, either towards God or away from God, either in obedience or in disobedience.
Obedience comes from God, for He guides whom He wills. Even in the state of obedience, one needs to be careful not to develop an attitude of self-righteousness, sometimes seen in outwardly religious people. Actions that lead to a sense of remorse and repentance before God are better than actions that lead to a sense of pride and arrogance. Prophet Mohammad said that he feared for his people, feared the vanity of self-righteousness.
The response to disobedience should be repentance, seeking God’s pardon with the resolve of remaining steadfast on the right path. Compassion and mercy are among the foremost attributes of Allah who accepts forgiveness from those who truly seek it.
Masters remind followers that the door of repentance remains open till doomsday. Rumi’s mausoleum in Konya has his famous verse inscribed on it, “Come back, come back, even if you have broken your repentance a thousand times”. Delays in repentance compound the wrong action, another repentance is required for the delay in seeking forgiveness.
The appropriate responses to life can help a person move closer to God. The Quran states, “It may be that you dislike something though it is good for you. And maybe that you like something that is not good for you. And God knows, you do not know”. (2:216) 
Tribulations have many blessings which require gratitude. First, the tribulation could have been worse, secondly, it is in worldly matters and not spiritual matters, and thirdly, it is in the finite world and not in the infinite one that lasts forever. Tribulations also force us into self-reflection and often bring us closer to God, teaching us never to give up on God’s mercy. In the Quran, Allah assures, “Verily, with every difficulty, there is relief” (96:4).
Displeasure with divine decree is to plunge into a state of ghaflah, heedlessness. God has decreed evil to exist in order to test mankind and for reasons that accord to His wisdom. Abu Bakr Al Margahi, a master of the mystic path, explained, “The intelligent one is he who arranges the concerns of the world with contentment at a slow pace, the concerns of the Hereafter with greed and hate, and the concerns of religion with knowledge and striving”. Other masters have said that contentment is finding sufficiency with what is at hand, and ceasing to covet what is not at hand. 

— Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi-based writer and author of Sufism: The Heart of Islam. She can be contacted at sadiafeedback@gmail.com