ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ وَٱلصَّٰدِقِينَ وَٱلْقَٰنِتِينَ وَٱلْمُنفِقِينَ وَٱلْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ بِٱلْأَسْحَارِ
The patient, the true, the obedient, those who spend [in the way of Allah], and those who seek forgiveness before dawn.
Introduction
This is āyah 17 of Sūrat Aal-i-Imraan (Family of Imran), the 89th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 3. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 89 of 114
- Surah
- Aal-i-Imraan (3)
The patient, the truthful, the devoted, the expenders, those who ask forgiveness at dawn. The patient, that is, with their hearts, the truthful with their spirits, the devoted with their souls, the expenders of what they are able, those who ask forgiveness with their tongues.2 The chevaliers are those whose speaking is this and whose doing is this. In the heart they are patient with the Real's command, in the spirit they walk straight in the Real's covenant, in the body they observe the right- ful due of the Real's command, with wealth they spend in the Real's road, with tongue they ask forgiveness and seek from the Real's generosity. The patient: That is, they are patient in trial and they reject complaint until they reach the Patron, nothing of this world or the afterworld holding them back. They are patient in every trial and put aside complaint. They turn their faces away from both this world and the afterworld until they reach the Patron. The truthful: That is, they speak the truth in seeking, so they aim straight, then they speak the truth until they witness. They speak truthfully and begin traveling. They travel truthfully to reach the domicile. They think truthfully to reach the destination. Then they put aside the marks bearing witness to truthfulness and throw themselves into the ocean to reach the shore of security and the seat of truthfulness, at an Omnipotent King [54:55]. The devoted: That is, in clinging to the door, drinking down sorrow, leaving aside loved ones, and rejecting companions until they realize proximity. They put on the clothing of poverty and hold up the hands of need at the door of the house of generosity: “Until You open, we will not leave, and until You caress, we will not go away.” Sometimes they are in prostration, sometimes standing, sometimes in fear, sometimes in hope. From the Exalted Presence comes this caress: “The field of friendship's road is solitariness, and the drinker of its wine is promised vision. Who- ever is truthful will one day reach his desire.” Some day good fortune will enter my door, some day the sun of elation will rise, Some day You will cast a glance at me, some day this sorrow of mine will end. The expenders: That is, they are munificent with their property to the extent they are able, then with their souls in respect of deeds, then with their hearts through truthfulness of states.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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