[2:216] Prescribed for you is fighting, though it be hateful to you. Yet it may happen that you hate a thing which is good for you; and it may happen that you love a thing which is bad for you; God knows, and you know not.
The engagement with fighting is difficult for the lower selves. He explained that their comforts are deferred because they follow the ordinance of discipline (taÌdīb). The opposite of this is the comforts of the hearts, which are immediate since they follow what is specified for drawing near (taqrīb). Happiness is in opposing (mukhālafa) the lower selves, so anyone who conforms (wāfaqa) with them has abandoned the exemplary path (al-maḥajjat al-muthlā). Likewise happiness is in conforming (muwāfaqa) to the hearts and anyone who opposes (khālafa) them deviates from the highest way (al-sunnat al-ʿulā).
It is better to accept the good news of the Real's guarantee of ease than the anxious thoughts of the lower selves warning of impending difficulty and harm.