صبر
Ṣabr
Topic
Patience in hardship: steadfastness, which the Quran promises God will reward without measure.
What it means
“God does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear” (2:286). “Seek help through patience and prayer, for God is with the patient” (2:153). “Those who are patient will be paid their reward without account” (39:10). The Prophet taught that no fatigue, illness, worry or grief reaches a believer, even the prick of a thorn, but God expiates his sins by it (Sahih al-Bukhari).
Often misunderstood as
That the Quran asks believers to accept injustice and do nothing.
What the sources say
Patience in the Quran is active. It is joined with prayer, with doing good, and with resisting oppression. The same Quran adds that “no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another” (6:164), so hardship is not a punishment passed down, and it comes with hope: “with hardship comes ease” (94:5–6).