It has been said that patience is the courage of the soul.
And from here the speaker adopted the saying: "Bravery is patience for an hour."
And it was said that patience is the steadiness of the heart in moments of disturbance.
Patience and agitation are opposites.
And for this reason, one of them corresponds with the other.
God, the Exalted, said concerning the people of the Fire.
It makes no difference to us whether we panic or remain patient.
There is no refuge for us.
And despair is the companion and the brother of weakness.
Patience is the companion of the prudent and his very substance.
So if impatience were asked by your father, it would say helplessness.
And if the prudent one were asked by your father, he would say patience.
And the soul is the servant's mount on which he rides to Paradise or Hell.
And patience for it is like the bit and the rein for the mount.
If the mount had neither a bridle nor a rein, it ran off in every direction.
And it protects these souls from the speeches of the crowds.
For it is a step toward every evil.
May God have mercy on the man who made for his self a bridle and a rein.
So he led it by its bridle to the obedience of God.
And he turned it away with its rein from disobediences of God.
Indeed, patience from forbidden things of God is easier than patience upon His punishment.
I said, and the soul, in it are two powers: the power of taking action and the power of refraining.
The reality of patience is to direct the power of taking action toward what benefits him.
And the power of refraining is holding back from what harms him.
And among the people are those whose strong patience is directed toward doing what benefits them.
And his steadfastness in it is stronger than his patience regarding what harms him.
So he endures the hardship of obedience.
And he has no patience to resist the urging of his desire to commit what he was forbidden to do.
And among them are those whose patience in refraining from transgressions is stronger.
Whoever endures the hardship of acts of worship.
And among them are some who have no patience for either this or that.
The best of people are those among them who are most patient regarding the two kinds.
Many people endure the hardship of standing in prayer at night in heat and cold.
And on the hardship of fasting.
and he cannot refrain from a forbidden glance.
Many people refrain from looking.
And concerning turning toward images.
And he has no patience for enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.
and fighting the disbelievers and the hypocrites
Rather, he is less inclined toward this and even more incapable of it.
Most of them have no patience for either of the two matters.
And the fewest among them are the most patient in both cases.
It is said that patience is the steadiness that serves as the driving force of reason and religion in opposing the impulses of desire and lust.
And the meaning of this is that the natural disposition takes what it loves.
And the prompting of reason and religion prevents him from it.
And the war between the two of them continues.
And it is a contention, and the heart of the servant is what stirs up this war.
And patience, courage, and steadfastness.
