Principles of Islam
33. Patience
(Sabr)
~ 101 ~
personality. While one who remains patient is so
morally bolstered by his own positive thoughts and
feelings that he develops a positive personality.
Sabr
is no retreat.
Sabr
only amounts to taking the
initiative along the path of wisdom and reason as
opposed to the path of the emotions. Sabr gives one
the strength to restrain one’s emotions in delicate
situations and rather to use one’s brains to find a
course of action along result-oriented lines.
The present world is fashioned in such a way that
everyone is necessarily confronted with unpleasant
matters at one time or another. Things, which are
unbearable, have somehow to be borne; harrowing
events have to be witnessed and all kinds of pain
have to be suffered. In such situations, succumbing
to impatience leads to the kind of unnecessary
emotional involvement, which is counter-
productive, while a demonstration of patience has a
healing, beneficial effect, allowing one to tread the
path of discreet avoidance. Success in the present
world is destined only for those who adopt the path
of patience in adverse circumstances.
