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Tag: Risala

  • Sabr (Patience) in the Sufi Tradition: Meaning and Everyday Practice

    Sabr (Patience) in the Sufi Tradition: Meaning and Everyday Practice

    Patience is one of the most repeated virtues in the Qur’an, and classical Sufi manuals treat it as a core station of the path. This guide gathers Sufi teachings on patience from al-Ghazali and al-Qushayri, rooted in verses and hadith with exact references, and turns them into a few practical habits.

    Quick answer

    Short answer: In classical Sufi teaching, sabr is a station (maqam) of the path: holding firm in obeying Allah, in keeping away from what He forbids, and in facing trials. Al-Ghazali pairs it with gratitude (shukr) in his Ihya’ (Vol. 4, Ch. 2), and al-Qushayri lists patience among the stations in his Risala (overview).

    Key takeaways

    • Allah is with the patient: “Seek help through patience and prayer” (Qur’an 2:153).
    • Reward without limit: “The patient will be given their reward without account” (Qur’an 39:10).
    • The best gift: “Nobody can be given a blessing better and greater than patience” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1469).
    • Timing matters: “the patience is at the first stroke of a calamity” (Sahih al-Bukhari 1283).

    What the Qur’an and Sunnah say about sabr

    The Qur’an ties patience to prayer: “O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient” (Qur’an 2:153, Sahih International). It also describes the patient as those who, when disaster strikes, say “Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return” (Qur’an 2:155–157).

    Patience is also something believers share. Surat al-‘Asr describes those saved from loss as people who “advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience” (Qur’an 103:1–3). And the Prophet (ﷺ) was told, “your patience is not but through Allah” (Qur’an 16:127), a reminder that patience is itself a gift we ask for.

    The Sunnah links patience with gratitude. The Prophet (ﷺ) said there is good in every affair of the believer: in delight he gives thanks, and in hardship he is patient, and both are good for him (Sahih Muslim 2999).

    Al-Ghazali: patience as knowledge, state and action

    In the volume of the Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din on saving virtues, al-Ghazali has a book on patience and gratitude (Fazl-ul-Karim’s translation, Vol. 4, Ch. 2). His approach is practical and structured. The points below paraphrase that chapter.

    • A station built in layers: knowledge leads to an inner state, and the state bears fruit in action. Patience grows when you understand why it matters.
    • Three kinds of patience: he reports from Ibn ‘Abbas that the Qur’an speaks of patience in doing what Allah commands, in keeping away from what He forbids, and in sudden hardship.
    • Patience in ease: he reports Sahl al-Tustari’s view that holding firm in comfort and pleasure is harder than in disaster, because ease can make us forgetful.
    • Two halves of faith: he reports Ibn Mas’ud’s saying that faith has two halves, patience and gratitude.

    Al-Ghazali also treats weak patience like an illness with a cure made of “knowledge and action”. You strengthen the motive to do right and weaken the pull of habit, a little at a time.

    Al-Qushayri: patience among the stations

    Al-Qushayri’s Risala, written in the eleventh century, became one of the most widely read Sufi handbooks. Its third part describes the stations and states of the path, beginning with repentance and including renunciation, patience and gratitude (overview).

    Placing patience next to gratitude in a sequence of stations shows that it is not passive waiting. It is active discipline of the self, practised alongside thankfulness. For terms such as maqam and hal, see Sufi Terms Explained.

    Reading the classics well

    Al-Qushayri’s Risala in English is available in modern, copyrighted translations, so we paraphrase rather than quote it. For tips on approaching these books, see How to Read Classical Sufi Texts.

    The kinds of patience at a glance

    KindWhat it meansEveryday example
    In obedienceKeeping up what Allah asksPraying on time when tired or busy
    From wrongdoingHolding back from what He forbidsNot replying to an insult in kind
    In trialsSteadiness when hardship comesSaying Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un at bad news
    In easeNot being carried away by comfortStaying humble and generous when things go well
    Kinds of patience in daily life

    Practising sabr day by day

    Patience grows through small, repeated choices. These steps turn the classical teaching into a simple daily routine.

    Building patience in small steps

    1

    Ask for it: use the Qur’anic dua Rabbana afrigh ‘alayna sabran (“Our Lord, pour upon us patience”) from Qur’an 2:250.

    2

    Catch the first moment: when bad news comes, pause and say Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un (Qur’an 2:156) before reacting, since patience is at the first stroke (Bukhari 1283).

    3

    Pair it with prayer: turn to salah when you feel overwhelmed, as in Qur’an 2:153.

    4

    Practise gratitude too: each night, name one blessing and one difficulty you bore for Allah’s sake.

    5

    Keep good company: share patience with family and friends, as Surat al-‘Asr describes.

    Tip

    Patience does not mean staying silent about harm or avoiding help. Seeking medical care, counselling or a scholar’s advice is fully compatible with sabr.

    A closing reflection

    Classical teachers did not present patience as gritting your teeth. They presented it as trust in Allah, joined with gratitude and steady action. You can begin today with one small act of holding firm.

    For personal guidance on hardship or spiritual practice, speak with a qualified scholar you trust. Our guide to the etiquette of seeking knowledge explains how to approach a teacher.

    This article is general educational content and not a religious ruling. Last checked: 11 October 2026.

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  • Al-Qushayri’s Risala: A Reader’s Introduction to the Classic Sufi Manual

    Al-Qushayri’s Risala: A Reader’s Introduction to the Classic Sufi Manual

    Few books have shaped how Muslims talk about the inner life as much as al-Risala al-Qushayriyya, often called al-Qushayri’s Epistle on Sufism. Written in eleventh-century Khurasan, it is still taught today. This introduction explains who the author was, what the book contains, and how a beginner can approach it calmly.

    Quick answer

    Short answer: The Risala is an Arabic handbook of Sufism written around 1045–46 CE by Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri (986–1072) of Nishapur. It gathers biographies of early Sufis, explains key technical terms, and walks through the stations and states of the path, beginning with repentance (overview).

    Key takeaways

    • Author: ‘Abd al-Karim ibn Hawazin al-Qushayri, born 986 CE (376 AH), died 1072 CE (465 AH) (biography).
    • Written: around 1045–46 CE, in Arabic (Library of Congress).
    • Three main parts: early Sufi biographies, technical terms, and stations and states of the path.
    • Long reach: translated into English, French, German, Persian, Turkish and Urdu.

    Who was al-Qushayri?

    Al-Qushayri was born in 986 CE and spent most of his life in Nishapur, in the region of Khurasan in today’s north-eastern Iran (biography). He was a Shafi’i jurist, a transmitter of hadith and a Qur’an commentator, as well as a spiritual teacher.

    His teacher on the path was the Nishapur shaykh Abu ‘Ali al-Daqqaq, whose daughter Fatima he married. He also studied with the Sufi scholar al-Sulami, who is quoted on almost every page of the Risala (biography).

    The Library of Congress catalogue describes him as a trusted hadith narrator, equally versed in Shafi’i law and theology (Library of Congress). This mix of law, hadith and spirituality is the key to his book.

    Why he wrote the Risala

    According to scholarly summaries, al-Qushayri had three aims (overview). He wanted to show that the beliefs of the early Sufi masters matched mainstream Sunni belief. He wanted to present Sufism as a recognised field of knowledge with its own vocabulary.

    His third aim was to separate the genuine tradition from the conduct of people who imitated Sufis without its discipline. For a modern reader, this makes the Risala a book about balance: inner devotion held firmly within the law and the Sunnah.

    Good to know

    The Library of Congress holds a manuscript of the Risala copied in Fez in 1220 CE, in Maghribi script, and it can be viewed online (Library of Congress). It shows how widely the book had travelled within two centuries.

    What the book covers

    The Risala opens with a statement of belief, covering divine oneness, the divine attributes and prophethood (overview). Three main parts follow.

    The structure of the Risala

    1

    Creed: a preface setting out the core beliefs of the early Sufis.

    2

    Biographies: short accounts of more than eighty early Sufi figures, in chronological order, with their sayings.

    3

    Technical terms: definitions of terms such as waqt (the present moment), maqam (station) and dhikr, traced back to the Qur’an and Sunnah.

    4

    Stations and states: chapters on tawba (repentance), zuhd (renunciation), sabr (patience), shukr (gratitude) and onward to ma’rifa (knowledge of God).

    One scholarly overview counts 83 biographies, 27 terms and 44 stations and states, while the Library of Congress description counts 82 biographies (overview; Library of Congress). Exact counts vary between descriptions and editions, so treat them as approximate.

    How the Risala compares with Kashf al-Mahjub

    Readers often meet the Risala alongside al-Hujwiri’s Kashf al-Mahjub, which we introduced in Kashf al-Mahjub: A Reader’s Introduction. Both come from the same century and region, but they differ in language and style.

    Al-Risala al-QushayriyyaKashf al-Mahjub
    Authoral-Qushayri of Nishapural-Hujwiri, who later lived in Lahore
    LanguageArabicPersian
    Century11th century CE11th century CE
    English translationModern (Alexander D. Knysh), still in copyrightPublic-domain Nicholson, 1911
    Risala vs Kashf al-Mahjub at a glance

    Its influence

    The Risala became one of the most widely used Sufi handbooks in the Muslim world (overview). Its English translator, Alexander Knysh, called it “probably the most popular Sufi manual ever,” as reported in the same overview.

    Later scholars wrote commentaries on it, including Zakariyya al-Ansari and Mulla ‘Ali al-Qari. Through al-Qushayri’s student Abu ‘Ali al-Farmadi, who taught al-Ghazali, its spirit also fed into later classics.

    How to approach reading it

    The Risala is built from short chapters rather than one long argument, which makes it friendly to slow reading. Our guide How to Read Classical Sufi Texts covers the general method; here are points specific to this book.

    Reading the Risala well

    • Begin with the chapters on repentance, patience and gratitude before the more advanced states
    • Read one short chapter at a time and note the Qur’an verses and hadith it cites
    • Keep a glossary; our Sufi terms guide is a good start
    • Treat sayings of early figures as wisdom to reflect on, not as rulings
    • Ask a qualified teacher when a passage seems unclear or surprising

    Tip

    The modern English translation by Alexander D. Knysh is still under copyright, so borrow or buy it rather than downloading unofficial copies. The Arabic manuscript at the Library of Congress is freely viewable.

    Closing reflection

    The Risala invites readers to see the inner life as something rooted in faith, law and good character, not apart from them. Read slowly, start with the foundational virtues, and let the book point you back to sincere worship.

    This article is general educational content. Last checked: 6 October 2026.

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