Patience

“I heard Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) saying, ‘A free person is free in all conditions. Even if hardships strike him he exercises patience, if afflictions batter him he does not break down even if he is taken as a captive and is overpowered and his comfort and prosperity are changed into poverty and hardships, just as in the case of Yusuf (Joseph) the truthful and trustworthy one (may Allah grant him blessings), whose freedom remained unaffected even though he was enslaved, taken as a captive and overpowered. The darkness and loneliness of the well did not harm him, nor did all that he went through until Allah granted him favors. He made the insolent tyrant into a slave for him after his being his king. He set him free and made a whole nation to be kind to him. This is how patience yields goodness. You must exercise patience and settle your soul upon patience and you will, certainly, be rewarded.’”

“Once Amir al-Mu’minin (Ali ibn abu Talib) (a.s.) entered the Mosque and at the door of the Mosque he met a man who was depressed and sad. Amir al- Mu’minin (Ali ibn abu Talib) (a.s.) asked him ‘What has happened to you?’ He said, ‘It is due to the death of my father, mother and brother. O Amir al- Mu’minin, I am afraid my gall bladder may have ruptured.’ Amir al-Mu’minin (Ali ibn abu Talib) (a.s.) said, ‘You must be pious before Allah and exercise patience. Tomorrow (on the Day of Judgment) you will proceed to Him. Patience in the issues (in life) is like a head to a body. If the head departs the body is destroyed, likewise, in the issues (of life), if patience departs the issues, all affairs (of life) are destroyed.”’

“Once abu al-Hassan (a.s.) said to me, ‘What is holding you back from performing Hajj?’ I said, ‘May Allah keep my soul in service for your cause, I am indebted a great deal and my properties are gone. It is my debt that is holding me down and is worse than the loss of my properties. If someone from our people does not help me out I will not be able to do it myself.’ The Imam said, ‘If you exercise patience you will be envied, otherwise Allah will execute his measures whether you agree or not.’”

“The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘A time will come upon people when kingdom can be achieved only by committing murders and tyranny. Wealth can only be achieved through usurpation and stinginess. Love and harmony can be established only by exclusion of religion and by following desires. Those living at such a time must exercise patience in poverty despite the accessability of wealth to them, be patient against the hatred of people toward them even though they can establish love and harmony. They must exercise patience in humiliation even though they can rise with respectable (position). To each one of such persons Allah will grant a reward equal to the reward for fifty truthful people of those who have acknowledged my message.’”

“Abu Ja’far (a.s.) has said, ‘When my father Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) was about to leave this world he held me against his chest and said, “My son, I recommend you with the same recommendation with which he (my father) advised me at the time that he was about to leave this world and with the recommendation that his father had made to him, O my son, hold to the truth with patience even if it is very bitter.”’”

reported to me Yahya ibn Salim al-Ta’ifi who has said that informed me ‘Amr ibn Shamir al-Yamani in a marfu ’ manner from Amir al- Mu’minin (Ali ibn abu Talib) (a.s.) who has said the following: “The Messenger of Allah has said, ‘Patience is of three kinds: patience at the time of suffering hardship, patience in performing acts of obedience (worship) and patience to stop one from committing what Allah has prohibited. For one who exercises patience at the time of suffering hardship until one passes it by with grace and goodness Allah writes down three hundred degrees. Each is distant from the other as the sky and the earth. Whoever exercises patience in performing the acts of obeying (worshipping) Allah writes for him six hundred degrees. Each is apart from the other as the core of the earth to the Throne. Whoever exercises such patience that stops one from committing what Allah has prohibited, Allah writes for him nine hundred degrees. Each is apart from the other as is the core of the earth to the end of the Throne.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) ordered me to meet al-Muffadal and offer him condolences for Isma’il (son of the Imam), ‘Convey my greetings of peace to him and tell him that we have suffered the death of Isma’il but have exercised patience. You must also exercise patience as we have done. We wanted one thing but Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, decided that another thing happen, and we are submissive to the command of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) has said, ‘Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, granted a favor to a people but they did not appreciate it and that favor turned against them in the form of a burden. He tried another nation with hardships and sufferings but these people exercised patience and the trouble turned into bounties for them.”’

“The Messenger of Allah has said that Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has said, ‘I have made the world a borrowing (place) for My servants. Whoever gives Me a loan I will return it ten times over up to seven hundred times over, and more if I so wish. Those who do not lend Me a loan I will take something forcibly from them. If they then exercise patience I will give three such rewards of which if I gave only one to My angels they would all become happy with Me.’ The narrator has said that Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) recited the words of Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy: ‘. . . those who when suffering hardship say, “We are the servants of Allah and to Him we shall all return,” (2:156) it is they who will receive blessing, [one of the three rewards], and mercy from Allah, [the second of the three rewards], and who have recieved the right guidance (2:157) [the third of the three rewards]. Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) then said, ‘This is when Allah takes something from one forcibly.’”