فَٱصْبِرْ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْعَزْمِ مِنَ ٱلرُّسُلِ وَلَا تَسْتَعْجِل لَّهُمْ ۚ كَأَنَّهُمْ يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَ مَا يُوعَدُونَ لَمْ يَلْبَثُوٓا۟ إِلَّا سَاعَةًۭ مِّن نَّهَارٍۭ ۚ بَلَٰغٌۭ ۚ فَهَلْ يُهْلَكُ إِلَّا ٱلْقَوْمُ ٱلْفَٰسِقُونَ
So be patient, [O Muhammad], as were those of determination among the messengers and do not be impatient for them. It will be - on the Day they see that which they are promised - as though they had not remained [in the world] except an hour of a day. [This is] notification. And will [any] be destroyed except the defiantly disobedient people?
Introduction
This is āyah 35 of Sūrat Al-Ahqaf (The Wind-Curved Sandhills), the 66th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 26. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Meccan
- Order revealed
- 66 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Ahqaf (46)
So be patient, as the messengers possessed of resoluteness were patient. And seek not to hurry it for them. On the day they see what they were promised, it will be as if they had not delayed for an hour of daytime. God's Messenger heard so many insults and ill words from the unbelievers and underwent so much suffering from them that he became anguished. Because of that anguish he wished in his heart that a punishment would reach them and they would taste chastisement. The Lord of the Worlds sent this verse: “So be patient... and seek not to hurry it. O MuḤammad, be patient with the torment and insults of the associaters and do not hasten to chastise and punish them. Emulate your brothers the prophets. They were patient with the sufferings and repellant things from their people. They knew that all of it was Our decree, so they did not complain or become anguished. You do the same that they did. O MuḤammad, so emulate their guidance [6:90]. Do you not know that one of My names is the Patient? The patient is he who does not hurry to punish: 'He gives respite but does not disregard.'” When the faithful servant believes that the Real is the Patient, he must make patience his own holdfast and support in order to increase in faith. MuṣṬafā said, “Patience is half of faith, and certainty is all of faith.” The station of patience is the station of the worshipers, and the station of certainty is the station of the recognizers. MuṣṬafā said to Ibn ʿAbbās, “If you can act for God with approval and certainty, do so. Other- wise, there is great good in patience with what you dislike.” First he called him to certainty, which is the great station and all of faith. Then he said, “If you do not have the capacity and do not reach this station, keep your feet fixed in the station of the patient, for in patience there is good aplenty. Surely the patient shall be paid their wage in full, without reckoning [39:10].” A great man was asked about the meaning of patience. He said, “Swallowing down trial with- out making claims.” It is to taste the poison of trial and then not to voice any claim.
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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