Discover the meaning of the term Al-ṣbr (صبر) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 5 min readIt is refraining from complaining of the pain of affliction to other than Allah, not to Allah; for Allah, exalted be He, praised Ayyub (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for his patience, saying: 'We found him patient', although he had called upon his Lord to remove the harm: 'Ayyub, when he called his Lord: harm has touched me, and You are the most merciful of the merciful'. We thus know that when the servant calls upon Allah to remove harm, this does not impair his patience; and this lest he be like one who resists Allah and claims to bear hardships. Allah said: 'We seized them with punishment, yet they did not submit to their Lord nor humbly supplicate Him'. Satisfaction with the decree is not impaired by complaint made to Allah or to another; it is only impaired by satisfaction with what is decreed (al-maqdi), and we were not commanded to be content with what is decreed; harm (durr) is what is decreed, decreed upon the servant whether he is pleased or not, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: 'Whoever finds good, let him praise Allah, and whoever finds otherwise, let him blame none but himself'. What is required is satisfaction with the decree, for the servant must be content with his master's judgment.
Refraining from complaining of the pain of affliction to other than Allah, exalted be He, not to Him; rather the servant must show his pain and helplessness and call upon Allah to remove harm, lest he be like one who resists Allah, exalted be He, and claims to bear hardships. Do you not see that Ayyub (peace be upon him) complained to Allah, exalted be He, and supplicated Him to repel harm: 'harm has touched me, and You are the most merciful of the merciful'; yet Allah, exalted be He, praised him for his patience: 'We found him patient'. From this it is learned that the servant's complaint to Allah, exalted be He, and supplication for the removal of harm do not impair his patience.
'Sabran': to endure, not to wail. In the Quran: 'Whoever fears and is patient... Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good' (Yusuf 90): to wait in calm and serenity. ''Anhu': to restrain oneself from it. 'Nafsahu': to restrain and control it. In the Quran: 'And keep yourself patient with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening' (al-Kahf 28). 'A person': to confine him. 'So-and-so by a thing: sabran, sabara': to stand surety for it; he is 'sabir'. 'Goods and the like': to gather them; he is 'masbur'. 'So-and-so regarding the oath': to compel him to swear by the greatest oath until he can no longer swear. 'The animal': to confine it to be shot until it dies. In the hadith of Anas: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade confining (tasbur) beasts. 'Istabara': to endure. In the Quran: 'Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, so worship Him and be steadfast in His worship' (Maryam 65). 'So-and-so': to say to him: endure. 'Al-sabr': steadfastness; confinement; prohibition. Patience that is praiseworthy in the law: patience in obedience to Allah, exalted be He, patience in abstaining from His disobedience, and patience over calamities and the kinds of hardships in this world (al-Nawawi). According to al-Raghib al-Isfahani: it is restraining the soul upon what reason or law requires, and its meanings vary with its objects: toward a misfortune it is called patience simply; in facing an enemy, courage; abstaining from what is forbidden, chastity. According to al-Jurjani: it is refraining from complaining of the pain of affliction to other than Allah, not to Allah.
The strength to resist pains and terrors, and to stand firm before affliction with good comportment.
Restraining the soul from following desire.
The strength to resist terrors and pains, whether sensible or rational.
﴿وَٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلْخَـٰشِعِينَ﴾
« And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allah] »
Surah البقرة : 45
﴿يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ﴾
« O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. »
Surah البقرة : 153
﴿وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىْءٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ وَٱلْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ﴾
« And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, »
Surah البقرة : 155
﴿۞ لَّيْسَ ٱلْبِرَّ أَن تُوَلُّوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ ٱلْمَشْرِقِ وَٱلْمَغْرِبِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ ٱلْبِرَّ مَنْ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ وَٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ وَٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَءَاتَى ٱلْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ ذَوِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينَ وَٱبْنَ ٱلسَّبِيلِ وَٱلسَّآئِلِينَ وَفِى ٱلرِّقَابِ وَأَقَامَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتَى ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱلْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَـٰهَدُوا۟ ۖ وَٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ فِى ٱلْبَأْسَآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَحِينَ ٱلْبَأْسِ ۗ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا۟ ۖ وَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُتَّقُونَ﴾
« Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous. »
Surah البقرة : 177
﴿فَلَمَّا فَصَلَ طَالُوتُ بِٱلْجُنُودِ قَالَ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مُبْتَلِيكُم بِنَهَرٍۢ فَمَن شَرِبَ مِنْهُ فَلَيْسَ مِنِّى وَمَن لَّمْ يَطْعَمْهُ فَإِنَّهُۥ مِنِّىٓ إِلَّا مَنِ ٱغْتَرَفَ غُرْفَةًۢ بِيَدِهِۦ ۚ فَشَرِبُوا۟ مِنْهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا مِّنْهُمْ ۚ فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَهُۥ هُوَ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَعَهُۥ قَالُوا۟ لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا ٱلْيَوْمَ بِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ ۚ قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَظُنُّونَ أَنَّهُم مُّلَـٰقُوا۟ ٱللَّهِ كَم مِّن فِئَةٍۢ قَلِيلَةٍ غَلَبَتْ فِئَةًۭ كَثِيرَةًۢ بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ﴾
« And when Saul went forth with the soldiers, he said, "Indeed, Allah will be testing you with a river. So whoever drinks from it is not of me, and whoever does not taste it is indeed of me, excepting one who takes [from it] in the hollow of his hand." But they drank from it, except a [very] few of them. Then when he had crossed it along with those who believed with him, they said, "There is no power for us today against Goliath and his soldiers." But those who were certain that they would meet Allah said, "How many a small company has overcome a large company by permission of Allah. And Allah is with the patient." »
Surah البقرة : 249
﴿وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا۟ لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِۦ قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَآ أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًۭا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَٱنصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ﴾
« And when they went forth to [face] Goliath and his soldiers, they said, "Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people." »
Surah البقرة : 250
This term appears in 50 verses of the Quran.