The Importance of Patience and Its Various Aspects
Patience, the Helper of Human Beings
The Honorable Lady Fatimah al-Zahra (peace be upon her), in her famous sermon known as “Al-Fadakiyyah,” briefly outlines key religious issues. One of her profound statements is:
"وَ الصَّبْرَ مَعُونَةً عَلَى اسْتِیجابِ الْأَجْرِ"
“Patience is a helper in attaining reward.”
In this deep saying, she regards patience as a helper and assistant for human beings in progressing through the stages of growth and development. Everything worthy of reward requires patience. The meaning of reward encompasses both worldly and otherworldly (hereafter) rewards. Worldly reward is the result and capital of this life, the harvest of which naturally occurs in the Hereafter. Of course, many material achievements in life, whose benefits are limited to this world, are also unattainable without patience and endurance.
In any case, reward can be considered an expanded form of worldly wage. A person receives a wage from their employer for economic activities such as working or laboring. This is their worldly reward. The set of actions performed with the intention of drawing near to God, including acts of worship and obedience, carries reward with the condition of sincerity before God.
The term “استیجاب” (Istijab) means drawing or obtaining, from the root “جلب” (Jalb), which means to take or bring about. However, “استیجاب” is more eloquent because it conveys the meaning indirectly and metaphorically, and “metaphor is more effective than explicit speech.”
Istijab is from the root “جوب” (Jawab) and is related to “answer,” carrying a similar meaning. The word “معونت” (Mu’awnah) means helping and assisting. Thus, patience is the “answer” to reward. An answer is necessary for attracting or drawing; meaning patience attracts goodness to the person. In any case, “استیجاب” is a metaphor and more beautiful and powerful in eloquence than “استجلاب.” The word “معونة” also contains important rhetorical nuances.
Patience is a prerequisite for every achievement in life. Without endurance, a person cannot reach their goal. The Hereafter and eternal happiness also depend on patience. A farmer who is not patient cannot reap the fruits of his sowing.
From the time of planting a crop to its growth, a certain period passes. The farmer must endure this time with patience and care, diligently watering and tending to the crop, sometimes spending many nights irrigating the field.
Moreover, the time for a field to bear fruit is not the same from one crop to another. Some crops bear fruit in a week, some in a month, and others may take one or two seasons or even a whole year. Some trees may take decades to grow and bear sufficient fruit. Surely, passing this period and taking care of the garden or farm cannot be accomplished without patience.
The Role of Patience in Guiding People
Natural processes require patience to produce results, and matters of the Hereafter are similar. However, the area where patience seems most important is in guiding others. Teaching, advising, and guiding others hastily and impatiently is usually ineffective. Enjoining good and forbidding evil is not always fruitful after just one statement. Sometimes advice must be repeated several times, or the manner and method of delivery must be changed. All these require patience and forbearance. Bad-tempered or impulsive behavior not only fails to help but often provokes resistance and hostility, causing the person to oppose the advice.
Therefore, Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) introduced patience as help and assistance. Of course, not everything is summarized by patience alone, and patience and endurance of hardships are not the only factors for success, but its effect and importance are significant. Whatever a person undertakes, they must be patient for a while until that work yields results. For advice to be effective, the advisor must be patient. It often happens that saying something once or twice does not produce results.
Sometimes, a period must pass during which changes occur within people that prepare them to accept the truth; otherwise, rushing may ruin the work and the desired outcome will not be achieved.
The conduct of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is a very good example of patience in guiding people. At the beginning of his mission, he proclaimed, “Say: There is no god but Allah, and you will succeed.” Some were immediately drawn to Islam upon hearing the call of monotheism, others later. The Prophet did not cease his efforts, and the number of Muslims continued to grow.
Some converted after one year, others after longer, and some even after the conquest of Mecca—more than twenty years after the Prophet’s mission began. Certainly, if the Prophet had not been patient and had retreated in the face of difficulties, there would have been no expansion of Islam or the great multitude of Muslims.
The Boundless Reward of Patience
One important aspect to consider regarding patience is its duration. How long must one be patient? This question does not have a single answer across different situations and contexts. A farmer knows how long to wait for each crop to bear fruit, having done it many times and knowing the expected time. This patience also varies with the seasons, as agricultural tasks differ in summer and winter. In any case, patience is necessary for every task, but the kind of patience required, the problems that must be endured, and the duration all differ from one task to another and from one matter to another.
In some fields, like farming, the duration of patience and what one must be patient about is clear to the farmer because it is a repeated experience. However, in other matters, the length and nature of patience are uncertain. Therefore, patience is not easy. This is why God in the Holy Qur’an has not specified the reward for the patient while clearly defining the reward for many other deeds. God says in the Qur’an:
"Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account." (Qur’an 39:10)
Exegeses of this verse explain that this is due to the uncertain duration of patience. Patience differs from one person to another and varies across different issues. A person’s endurance differs in two distinct matters. Given the wide scope and undefined limits of patience, God does not assign a fixed, definite reward for it.
It Took Twenty Years to Receive a Return Greeting
It is written about a scholar who once had a disagreement with someone who behaved irrationally. The scholar was upset with him but whenever they met, the scholar always greeted him. Every day and week, and whenever they happened to be at the same place for an occasion, the scholar made sure to greet the other person. However, that person never returned the greeting. The scholar did not stop and continued patiently greeting him without receiving a reply. This continued for years until one day, after twenty years, the other person finally responded to the greeting.
Perhaps if someone else were in the scholar’s place, feeling justified and faced with irrational behavior, they would have refused to greet. But the scholar was patient and ultimately achieved the desired result.
By this act, the scholar facilitated the other person’s repentance and salvation, aside from the immense reward the scholar earned.
Two Important Points About Patience
There are two very important issues regarding patience:
If the scholar had rushed and stopped greeting after a few attempts without a reply, the effort would have ended prematurely. But since the scholar decided to be patient and knew the limits of patience are indefinite, he continued, knowing that his behavior’s outcome was very valuable and the reward for patience was beyond measure. With this mindset, without losing composure, he continued and ultimately succeeded.
Areas Where Patience Is Needed
Everyone must be patient in all aspects of life: spouses in their marital affairs must act patiently, relatives, acquaintances, colleagues, and in general all people in all matters should hold on to patience and endurance.
Patience not only brings great reward but also safeguards mental health. It raises a person’s tolerance threshold against difficulties and prevents life’s hardships from breaking them down. Therefore, it is fitting for a person to be patient in all their actions to always be successful and efficient.
A defining characteristic of true patience is not considering its duration. As mentioned, the reason for the boundless reward of patience is that its end is not fixed. So we should not become weary and stop being patient after one, two, or even longer years. According to the words of Lady Fatimah (peace be upon her) mentioned at the beginning, patience is a helper and provider of reward for the person.
The behavior of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and the infallible Imams was based on patience. If the Prophet had become tired and abandoned his mission after ten years, Islam would not exist today and humanity’s happiness would not have been realized. The Imams and pious people have all followed the Prophet’s path of patience and endurance. This approach not only preserves mental health but also leads to achieving goals. May God grant us success in practicing patience and its aspects.
Peace and blessings be upon our Master and Prophet Muhammad and his pure family.
