What did Ibn al-Qayyim say about patience?
Ibn al-Qayyim treated patience as the twin of gratitude — one for the hardship, one for the ease. He called ṣabr the strongest cavalry in the army of the believer.
10 passages from 6 books in the library
In the cited passages from al-Ghazali's Ihya, patience (sabr) is a pillar of faith and of sustaining repentance, exercised in three forms: patience in performing Allah's obligations, patience in refraining from prohibitions, and patience in enduring trials. Al-Ghazali compares it to enduring the bitterness of medicine to cure an ailment, and notes that fasting is called half of patience because true patience means resisting desire. Quoting al-Shibli, he points beyond patience 'for God' to patience 'with God,' and warns: if one cannot bear patience now, how will one bear the Fire?
- Patience in performing Allah's obligations
- Patience in refraining from prohibitions
- Patience in enduring hardship and trials
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 6 books by Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"is better than patience with them, and patience with them is better than patience with the fire."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Al-Shibli said, Patience in God, and was told no, Patience for God, and was told no, Patience"
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"in three forms, patience in performing Allah's obligations, patience in refraining from prohibitions,"
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"Therefore, fasting is considered half of patience, because complete patience involves resisting"
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"for patience. The idea that patience constitutes half of faith should not lead you to believe"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Since patience is one of the pillars of maintaining repentance, it is necessary to explain patience,"
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"eternity? If I cannot bear the pain of patience, how will I endure the pain of fire? And if I"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"one must endure the bitterness of medicine to cure physical ailments, one must endure the struggle"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
-
"If one can endure it and refrain from retaliation, then enduring and patience are conditions of"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"gentleness in what he forbids, and patience in what he commands, patience in what he forbids,"
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