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5^th day of Ramadan

ṢABR

PATIENCE

Aisha, Mother of the believers, narrated that the Prophet said, “There are amongst the people some who are not loved by Allah, and those are the quarrelsome ones.”¹⁵

Ramadan is also called the month of patience and leniency. Patience is a form of fasting. Patience is a state of darkness, a forbearing wait during which the believers know that a light is growing inside the apparent darkness they have been given because Allah is the All-merciful, the Wise. The Divine Name Aṣ-Ṣabūr helps us achieve inner growth, and tend and strengthen our inner values.

The word ṣabr does not only mean patience, it also includes qualities such as tolerance, forbearance, a peace-making spirit, steadfastness, self-control, the ability to persevere and wait without yielding to one’s instinctive reaction or negative thoughts. Indeed, ṣabr leads you to the essential, to your beauty and to the One who created beauty.

“Allah is beauty and He loves beauty,”¹⁶ the Prophet Muhammad said.

Nothing prolongs life more than patience, and patience beautifies, for patience is pure and purifies all things.

By exercising patience and repeating the Divine Name Aṣ-Ṣabūr, the always hurried and impatient I comes to experience a sense of space and clarity, a silent peace which enables us to reach the depths of our being and to enter the space where we trust in Allah, in His mercy and His wisdom.

Patience, ṣabr, helps us not get stuck in that which is readily apparent; it takes us to a deeper level where we get a taste of the Divine blessing that we might not have acknowledged in the moment.

Does Allah not tell us: “[…] and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: and God knows, whereas you do not know.” (2:216)

Patience also widens our understanding: life keeps changing and nothing ever remains the same, be it good or bad. Thus seasons come and go, streetscapes keep transforming, and so do our feelings, our states and our situations, our views and our understanding, our relationships and our friendships.

“[But] it may well be that God will bring about [mutual] affection between you [O believers] and some of those whom you [now] face as enemies: […].” (60:7)

It is not easy for the ego, nafs, to know that everything which comes is bound to go, to experience transience and the absence of permanence. Indeed, the nafs longs for stability and security, constancy, it loves planning and anticipating and believes that this will secure it protection and a better future.

Yet the soul knows: “All that lives on earth or in the heavens is bound to pass away.” (55:26), and it also knows: “But forever will abide thy Sustainer’s Self, full of majesty and glory.” (55:27)

Our beloved Prophet always advised us to base our inner attitude on a balanced, middle path.

To have patience in God is faithfulness. He gives us patience and helps us remain true to ourselves through the mountains and the valleys of life, in the deep wells of loneliness and in the changing winds of doubts and fears.

“[…] And unto everyone who is conscious of God, He [always] grants a way out [of unhappiness], and provides for him in a manner beyond all expectation; and for everyone who places his trust in God, He [alone] is enough. Verily, God always attains to His purpose: [and] indeed, unto everything has God appointed its [term and] measure.”(65:2-3).”

Once we begin to understand and to feel that Allah only ever wants the best for us, we can muster a confident, hopeful patience which leads us to gratefulness.

Then the bitter and the sweet, the heavy and the light, separation and union all turn into states that I can hold out lovingly to Him, in the knowledge that He loves me.

Patience is the daughter of gentleness. The gentler the heart, the greater the patience. God’s patience manifests through the guidance He offers us time and time again despite our constant disobedience.

Al-Amin said, “He who remains patient, Allah will bestow patience upon him. Nobody is ever granted a better or more far-reaching gift than patience.”¹⁷

Patiently and creatively, help bring the energy of love to this earth! Then we can restore the harmony which has been disrupted by our materialism and our greed.

O ALLAH, OFTENTIMES HAVE I BEEN VERY ANGRY AND IMPATIENT, PLEASE GRANT

ME PATIENCE AND HELP ME MASTER MY ANGER

FOR YOUR SAKE.

Fasting forces us to face our weaknesses, to fight the seductive voices of temptation and our addiction to this world. The Ramadan asceticism helps us weaken the hold of our ego, thus strengthening our willpower, as well as the aim of our existence and the path of our soul.

Have patience, ṣabr!

“And seek aid in steadfast patience and prayer: and this, indeed, is a

hard thing for all but the humble in spirit,” (2:45)

PRACTICE SUGGESTED FOR TODAY

Yā Ṣabūr

Stay today with the Divine Name Aṣ-Ṣabūr.

Whenever you tense up, become impatient or irritated, whenever things do not go the way you would like them to, repeat Yā Ṣabūr.

Clad yourself with the mantle of beauty, woven from patience and confidence.

May this Name take you out of the exile of the nafs and lead you to the home of your soul.

DID YOU KNOW…

Yā ṣabr Ayyub!

O (grant me) Ayyub’s patience!

In the Qur’an, the Prophet Ayyub (Job), peace be with him, embodies the highest virtue of patience in the face of adversity. He lived in Syria with his wife and was a very prosperous man who treated his fellow human beings kindly and generously. His wife too was a good-hearted, grateful woman.

Then his destiny took a heavy turn. All his children, indeed his entire family, with the exception of his wife, perished, he lost all his possessions and became seriously ill. The disease struck all parts of his body, except his heart and his tongue with which he went on praising and patiently worshipping Allah. People withdrew from him so that only his wife remained by his side. She fed them both by serving in different households. The more trials and trouble Allah sent him, the more he remained in praising and thanking: “[…] verily, We found him full of patience in adversity: how excellent a servant [of Ours], who, behold, would always turn to Us!” (38:44). This difficult period lasted 18 years, during which his wife faithfully supported him and stood by his side.

After all this suffering, Ayyub turned to Allah and asked Him to free him from this heavy load: “Affliction has befallen me: but Thou art the most merciful of the merciful!” (21:83).

Allah yielded to his supplication and spoke: “[…] “Strike [the ground] with thy foot: here is cool water to wash with and to drink!” (38:42)

Ayyub drank of the water, he was healed and Allah granted him children and possessions again, in even greater measure than he had previously had.