Sacred texts · Islam
26 Quran verses about patience (sabr)
Patience, sabr in Arabic, is one of the virtues the Quran names most often. It is not passive waiting: it means constancy in prayer, firmness under trial and restraint when you are wronged. This page gathers the Quran’s main verses about patience in four groups, each with its surah and verse number.
The verses are quoted from Marmaduke Pickthall’s translation, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), where sabr becomes “patience,” “steadfastness” or “endurance” depending on the verse. Muslims hold that the Quran is the Arabic text itself; a translation conveys its meaning. Every verse here was checked word for word against Pickthall’s text. For more, see the main page of Quran verses or the verses for anxiety and hard times.
Seek help in patience and prayer
Two verses of Surah Al-Baqarah (2:45 and 2:153) pair patience with prayer, two supports to ask for together. Here too is Jacob’s answer when his sons tell him that Joseph is lost: “Comely patience” (12:18), sabrun jamil in Arabic, a phrase still used today.
Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded.
O ye who believe! Seek help in steadfastness and prayer. Lo! Allah is with the steadfast.
O ye who believe! Endure, outdo all others in endurance, be ready, and observe your duty to Allah, in order that ye may succeed.
Seek help in Allah and endure. Lo! the earth is Allah’s. He giveth it for an inheritance to whom He will.
Comely patience. And Allah it is Whose help is to be sought in that (predicament) which ye describe.
Thine endurance is only by (the help of) Allah. Grieve not for them.
Well know We that thy bosom is oppressed by what they say, But hymn the praise of thy Lord, and be of those who make prostration (unto Him).
Patience in trials and loss
These verses describe testing as part of life (29:2), recall Job crying out to his Lord in adversity (21:83), and include the words many Muslims say on hearing of a death, verse 2:156, known in Arabic as “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.”
Lo! we are Allah’s and lo! unto Him we are returning.
Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, We believe, and will not be tested with affliction?
And Job, when he cried unto his Lord, (saying): Lo! adversity afflicteth me, and Thou art Most Merciful of all who show mercy.
Lo! We found him steadfast, how excellent a slave! Lo! he was ever turning in repentance (to his Lord).
O my dear son! Establish worship and enjoin kindness and forbid iniquity, and persevere whatever may befall thee. Lo! that is of the steadfast heart of things.
It may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not.
Patience, self-control and forgiveness
In the Quran, patience often travels with forgiveness: controlling your wrath (3:134), repelling evil with what is better (41:34), answering offense with a greeting of peace (28:55). Verse 42:43 brings the two together and calls them the steadfast heart of things.
And verily whoso is patient and forgiveth - lo! that, verily, is (of) the steadfast heart of things.
Those who spend (of that which Allah hath given them) in ease and in adversity, those who control their wrath and are forgiving toward mankind; Allah loveth the good.
But bear with them and pardon them. Lo! Allah loveth the kindly.
Repel evil with that which is better.
The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend.
Unto us our works and unto you your works. Peace be unto you! We desire not the ignorant.
The reward promised to the patient
Several verses promise that steadfastness is never wasted: “the steadfast will be paid their wages without stint” (39:10), and “Allah loseth not the wages of the good” (11:115). The short Surah Al-Asr (103) closes by calling believers to exhort one another to truth and to endurance.
For those who do good in this world there is good, and Allah’s earth is spacious. Verily the steadfast will be paid their wages without stint.
Allah loseth not the wages of the good.
Allah hath shown us favour. Lo! he who wardeth off (evil) and endureth (findeth favour); for lo! Allah loseth not the wages of the kindly.
Peace be unto you because ye persevered. Ah, passing sweet will be the sequel of the (heavenly) Home.
That which ye have wasteth away, and that which Allah hath remaineth. And verily We shall pay those who are steadfast a recompense in proportion to the best of what they used to do.
The steadfast, and the truthful, and the obedient, those who spend (and hoard not), those who pray for pardon in the watches of the night.
Those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance.
How to read these verses in a hard moment
Pick one verse and keep it for the day: reread it before prayer, or whenever impatience rises. Reading the whole surah around it helps you grasp its meaning, and the reference lets you find it in any Quran, since the numbers follow the standard numbering of today’s editions.
If a verse raises questions, a commentary (tafsir) or someone you trust in your community will help more than a verse read on its own. Being patient doesn’t mean carrying everything by yourself: talking to someone close or asking for help remains possible at every step.
In the Selfia app, the Islam path (Settings › Spirituality) adds Quran verses in a separate section, always with the translation named.
Frequently asked questions
Which surah is about patience?
No surah is named after patience. The theme runs through many of them, notably Al-Baqarah (2:45, 2:153 and 2:155–157), Al Imran (3:200) and Az-Zumar (39:10). The short Surah Al-Asr (103), only three verses long, ends by calling believers to exhort one another to truth and to endurance.
What does sabr mean?
Sabr is the Arabic word usually translated as patience. Its meaning is wider than waiting: it covers constancy, endurance and self-restraint. Translators render it according to context; Pickthall writes “patience,” “steadfast” or “endurance,” while the French translator Kazimirski uses “patience,” “patients” or “persévérants.”
What do Muslims say when someone dies?
The best-known words come from verse 2:156, “Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un,” which you will find in the second group on this page. In the Quran, they are spoken by those who stay patient when misfortune strikes them. If you are grieving, Selfia’s affirmations for grief may also keep you company.