To feel estrangement (to feel alienated).
Riḍā (contentment with God's decree) is a matter on which the people of God (ahl Allāh) have differed. Is riḍā a maqām (spiritual station), or is it a ḥāl (spiritual state)? Those who say it is a ḥāl have included it among the category of divine gifts (mawhiba), while those who say it is a maqām have asserted that it is attained through striving (jahd) and effort (gayret). This is a divine attribute. Every divine attribute, when ascribed to Allah, does not admit of being either bestowed (wahbī) or acquired (kasbī). These are outside the meanings we ascribe to people (ḥalq). When we ascribe it to people, if it is permanent, it is called a maqām; if it is transient, it is called a ḥāl. In this case, it acquires both qualities, and both are correct. This attribute is a maqām for some among people, and a ḥāl for others. All divine attributes are like this. When these attributes are ascribed to people, they take the place of beliefs (iʿtiqādāt). People accept every belief and affirm its content. Divine attributes are likewise: when ascribed to people, they take on the qualities of maqāms and ḥāls. (Futūḥāt, II, 209)
Know that when the Exalted Truth (Ḥaqq Taʿālā) wishes to strengthen a servant by granting him His wisdoms, He bestows upon that servant the lights of describing Himself and His attributes (ihsān), and thus destinies descend. At that moment, the lights go before that servant, and the servant is with his Lord, not with his nafs (the lower self).
Thus, the servant becomes strong against his afflictions and resilient against the desires of the nafs, because Allah assists them in submitting to destiny and in enduring the constant flow of light. Whether Allah aided them in bearing the rulings that open the door of exposition (bayān), or aided them in bearing the calamities that are the arrivals (wārid) of ihsān.
Whether, as a witness (shāhid) to their good choices in the matter of tawakkul (reliance upon God), He gave them strength in accepting destiny, or, in the ḥāl (spiritual state) in which they knew the existence of His knowledge in the presence of His decree, He strengthened them with sabr (patient endurance). Whether they were tried by destiny, knowing that He will be seen, or, in the manifestation of His acts, He made them patient through the presence of His Beauty (jamāl).
Their patience with destiny is because they know that sabr leads to riḍā, or you may say that their patience with destinies is the unveiling of veils and obstacles. If you wish, their sole strength against the difficulties of obligation (taklīf) is the arrival of the secrets of divine disposition (tasrīf), or you may say that their patience with their destinies is because they know that in those destinies are Allah's grace and ihsān.
These ten reasons necessitate that the servant be patient, show steadfastness (thabāt) towards his Lord's decrees, and be strong at the time of the coming of judgments. It is He who grants all these as His own ihsān. He is the One who bestows this upon the people of grace (ahl al-ināya). (Tanwīr, 4)
Sabr leads to riḍā; for this reason, whoever is patient in following Allah's rulings, Allah bestows upon him riḍā, and he endures the hardships of (destiny's) decrees for the sake of Allah's riḍā, seeking Allah's pleasure. It is like drinking a bitter medicine in order to obtain healing as a result. (Tanwīr, 6)
If being content with Allah (truly) is for Allah's sake, then Allah also creates the taste of this riḍā. This is so that the servant may know what has been bestowed upon him and Allah's ihsān towards him. There is no Allah's riḍā without understanding (fahm), no understanding without light, no light without proximity (qurb), and no proximity without ināya (divine care).