What is Sabr?

By Imâm Ibnul Qayyim 

The Meaning of Patience!

In the Arabic language, 'Sabr' means ‘to hold fast, cease, or choke’. For example, in Bedouin Arabic, to say 'one has been killed by sabr,' means one is choked to death. Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى says,

وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ

"Moreover, keep yourself patient in the company of those (humble believers) who call upon their Lord (with devotion) in the morning and in the evening, desiring (only) His Face."

(Al-Kahf 18:28)

Sabr in this verse means to ‘hold onto’.

Thus, Sabr means to hold oneself from anxiety (jaza) and anger (tasakhkhut) , to hold one’s tongue from complaint, and to hold one’s body from disgraceful movements.

It is of three types: Patience in obeying Allaah (namely, perseverance), patience in avoiding Allaah’s disobedience (namely, resolve), and patience in Allaah’s tests. The first two of these are related to voluntary acts, over which we as humans have control. The last pertains to what happens to us (by Allaah’s decree) wherein we have no choice.

The Patience of the Prophet Yusuf عليه السلام

I have heard Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله say:

“(The Prophet) Yusuf’s patience in resisting the temptation of the minister’s wife was higher than his patience regarding his brothers’ throwing him into the well and separating him from his father, for the latter happened to him without his choice. In such cases, a servant of Allaah has no option but patience. But his perseverance in avoiding the seduction (of the minister’s wife) involved his choice and pleasure (resulting from his volitional obedience to Allaah), and struggling against his self.
This is especially true because there were factors complicating the situation which made it all the harder for him. Not only was he young and full of powerful natural desire, he also was unmarried (thus lacking an appropriate way of satisfying those native urges). He was furthermore a stranger in the land with no relatives or friends to be ashamed before (had he fornicated).

Moreover, he was a slave, and in servitude one’s moral restraint (wazi) is not as it is in freedom. Further, the woman (seeking to seduce him) was beautiful, of high status, and his owner, and she tempted him when her husband was out. On top of all this, she threatened him with imprisonment and humiliation if he were not to oblige her. Yet despite all these factors, he was patient out of his own choice, preferring what is with Allaah. How much better it is compared to his patience in the well, wherein he had no choice?”

He (Ibn Taymiyyah) رحمه الله also used to say:

"Patience through the performance of righteous acts is better and higher in status than patience in avoiding sins, for the benefit that comes from the performance of a righteous deed is dearer to the Lawgiver (Allaah) than the benefit that comes from abjuring sin. Likewise, the ill that arises from the absence of righteous obedience is more hateful to Allaah than the ill that arises from the presence of disobedience."

He has a treatise in this matter in which he has supported this opinion in 20 different ways, but this is not the occasion to mention them. Our purpose here is to discuss patience, its reality, its levels and ranks. Allaah alone gives success.

Various Ranks of Patience

Patience is also of three sorts: Patience by Allaah (billah), patience for Allaah (lillâh), and patience with Allaah (ma’Allaah).

The first, patience by Allaah, consists in seeking Allaah’s help and seeing. Allaah as the source of patience. For the patience of a servant is not in his own power but is his Lord’s gift, as He سُبحانه وتعالى says, 

وَاصْبِرْ وَمَا صَبْرُكَ إِلاَّ بِاللّهِ

“So be patient (O Prophet). Yet (know that) your patience shall not endure (through adversity), except with (the help of) Allaah.”

(An-Nahl 16:127)

That is to say, if Allaah does not give you patience, you shall not be patient.

The second, patience for Allaah, means that the motivation of your patience must be the love of Allaah, the will to seek His pleasure (wajh), and nearness to Him-not the desire to exhibit your self-control, to seek the praise of people, or for any other reasons.

The third, patience with Allaah, is comprised of the servant’s effort to keep with Allaah’s religious decrees and requirements, in terms of persevering with them, living with them, establishing them, going with them wherever they stop. One’s patience with Allaah is to attach the 'self' (nafs) to the things Allaah commands and loves. This is the hardest and most demanding type of patience. It is the patience of the Siddiqun (those of the highest degree of truthfulness and faithfulness).

The learned Al-Junayd said:

“The journey from this world to the Hereafter is easy and light for a believer when compared with renouncing people (for their rejection of faith) in front of Allaah, which is hard. The journey from the self to Allaah is harder still. Yet to be patient with Allaah is the hardest of all.”

He was asked about patience. So he said:

“It is to swallow bitterness without frowning.”

It has also been said that (patience) is “the endurance of the self in attacking adversities.” And also “withstanding a calamity with a good attitude (patience) is like enjoying peace and felicity.”

Amr Ibn Uthman said:

“(Patience) is standing fast with Allaah and meeting the calamity Allaah has given with magnanimity and intern.”

The elite (worshippers of Allaah) say:

“(Patience) is to stand firm on the commandments of the Book and the Sunnah.”

It has been said that the ranks of sabr are five: Sabir, mustabir, mutasabbir, sabur, and sabbar. The first, sabir, is the most general. Mustabir is of the one who has earned patience and is filled with it. Mutasabbir is of one who forces one’s “self” to it (against all odds). Sabur is of one whose patience is great in comparison to others. And, finally, sabbar, is of one who has a great amount of patience – greater than any of the (people meant by these four) earlier (descriptions) .

Regarding the words of Allaah سُبحانه وتعالى,

 “Be patient (do sabr), encourage each other to be patient (do musabarah), and wait in patience (do musabarah), and wait in patience (do musabarah), and wait in patience (do murabatah), or Be patient. And have outlasting patience. And be ever at the ready.”

(Aali Imran 3:200)

– it has been said that this verse proceeds from the easier (and lesser) command to the harder and nobler. This means that sabr is less than musabara, and musabara is less than murabatah.

The word ‘murabatah’ comes from rabt which means a tie or hold. Someone is called al-murabit because he ties his horse and waits for the enemy’s assault. Hence, this term has been used for anyone who ties and holds his 'self' in discipline and waits for Allaah’s commandments.

The Prophet Muhammad صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم, has said:

“Shall I not inform you of that by which Allaah erases sins and raises ranks? Perfecting ablution (wudhu), even when it is difficult, walking frequently to the mosques, and waiting for a salaah after another (has finished): That is ribat! That is ribat!”

(Muslim, Maalik Tirmidhi) 

He صلّى اللَّهُ عليه وسلّم also said:

“Waiting patiently for a single day in the path of Allaah is better than this world and all that is in it.”

(Bukhari, Ahmad)