What does the Quran say about patience?
Sabr — usually translated patience, though it carries more of steadfastness and endurance — runs throughout the Qur’an. It is paired with prayer as a source of help Qur’an 2:153, promised a reward given without measure Qur’an 39:10, and named in Surah al-Asr as one of only two things that keep a person from loss Qur’an 103:1-3. The Qur’an also states plainly that testing will come Qur’an 2:155, which is the setting the whole idea assumes.
What does sabr actually mean in the Qur’an?
Wider than the English word patience, which suggests waiting quietly. The Qur’an uses sabr for holding a position under pressure — in hardship, in conflict Qur’an 8:46, and in continuing to do right when it costs something Qur’an 3:200. Qur’an 16:127 gives an instruction and a qualification in one line: be patient, and your patience is not but through God. It is not presented as a resource a person generates alone.
Does the Qur’an say hardship is coming?
It states it directly rather than softening it. Qur’an 2:155 says: We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger, and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits — and gives glad tidings to the patient. The next verse identifies who those are: those who, when disaster strikes them, say that we belong to God and to Him we return Qur’an 2:156. Upon them, Qur’an 2:157 says, are blessings from their Lord and mercy, and they are the rightly guided. The sequence is worth noticing. The test is announced first. The Qur’an does not present hardship as a sign of abandonment.
What reward does the Qur’an attach to patience?
Qur’an 39:10 states that the patient will be given their reward without account — bi-ghayri ḥisāb, without measure or reckoning. The phrase is unusual; most rewards in the Qur’an are described in proportion to the deed. Qur’an 2:153 pairs it with something else: seek help through patience and prayer, for God is with the patient. The companionship is stated as the point, not only the recompense.
What is "beautiful patience"?
The phrase ṣabrun jamīl appears in the account of Jacob. On being shown his son’s bloodied shirt he responds that he will have beautiful patience, and that it is God whose help is sought against what they describe Qur’an 12:18. He uses it again much later in the same account Qur’an 12:83. The Qur’an does not present this as absence of grief — the same narrative describes his eyes whitening from sorrow Qur’an 12:84. What is depicted is endurance held alongside grief rather than instead of it.
Why does Surah al-Asr name patience?
Surah 103 is three verses long and defines who escapes loss. It swears by time, states that mankind is in loss, and excepts those who believe, do righteous deeds, advise one another to truth, and advise one another to patience Qur’an 103:1-3. The last clause is worth pausing on: patience appears not as private endurance but as something people counsel one another toward. Qur’an 90:17 makes the same move, describing those who counsel one another to patience and to compassion.
Who does the Qur’an hold up as patient?
It names examples. Qur’an 46:35 instructs patience as the messengers of firm resolve were patient. Qur’an 31:17 records Luqman advising his son to establish prayer, enjoin good, forbid wrong, and be patient over what befalls him — describing this as among matters requiring determination. Job is invoked in Qur’an 38:44 with the comment that We found him patient — an excellent servant, one who repeatedly turned back to God.
Common questions
- What is sabr in Islam?
- Sabr is the Qur’anic term usually rendered as patience, covering steadfastness and endurance under difficulty. The Qur’an pairs it with prayer as a means of seeking help Qur’an 2:153 and states that God is with those who have it.
- Which verse of the Qur’an is about patience in hardship?
- Qur’an 2:155-157 is the passage most often turned to — announcing that testing will come, giving glad tidings to the patient, and recording their response: we belong to God and to Him we return.
- What reward does the Qur’an promise for patience?
- Qur’an 39:10 states the patient will be given their reward without account — without measure. Qur’an 2:153 adds that God is with the patient.
- Does being patient mean not grieving?
- The Qur’an’s own example suggests not. Jacob speaks of beautiful patience Qur’an 12:18 while the same account describes his eyes whitening from grief Qur’an 12:84. Endurance is depicted alongside sorrow, not in place of it.
Sources cited on this page
Every claim above is traceable. Qur’an references open with several translations side by side, since translations differ. Where a point is not settled by the Qur’an itself, the narration is named so you can see what it rests on.
The Surahs this page draws on
Every verse quoted above comes from one of these chapters. Each is set out in full — why it was revealed, and what it teaches.