The Head and the Body

Imam ʿAlī (may Allah ennoble his face and be pleased with him) says that if īmān is compared to a human body, whatever the head is to the body, that is what ṣabr is to īmān. Can a body without a head be imagined? No. In the same way, he says, one cannot imagine a muʾmin, a believer, a Muslim, a person who claims to be a good Muslim, without ṣabr. It is impossible for a body to live without a head; therefore, he says, it is impossible for īmān to survive without ṣabr.

Some of the ʿulamāʾ, the Islamic scholars, have divided ṣabr into several categories — three categories. The first and most common ṣabr, they said, is the ṣabr of the people who repent, the tawwābīn, the people who make tawbah: O Allah, I promise You that from today onward I am not going to go to discos; from this moment onward I am going to stop smoking; from this moment onward I am not going to swear again; from this moment onward I am not going to look at ḥarām, I am not going to eat any ḥarām, I am not going to wear anything ḥarām. This is the ṣabr shown toward one's lusts and desires. It is the most common; it is the ṣabr of the tawwābīn, the people who make tawbah.

The second form of ṣabr is the ṣabr of the muttaqīn, the people who have taqwā. Their ṣabr is against the qaḍāʾ of Allah (swt): to accept whatever Allah (swt) has destined for them. They accept — as set out under the obligation of accepting the qaḍāʾ and qadar of Allah (swt), they accept whatever Allah (swt) has destined for them. Yes, I have a wife and I have no children: this is the qaḍāʾ of Allah (swt), and I accept it. Yes, I am alive, alḥamdulillāh, but I do not have a father; I lost my father five years ago; I was an orphan — alḥamdulillāh. That is the person of the muttaqīn.

The third form, the third category of ṣabr, is called the ṣabr of the ṣiddīqīn, the champions of truth, the loyal servants of Allah (swt). They do not merely put up with pain; they welcome it. They see no difference between pleasure and pain. They say: it is from Allah (swt), and that is good enough for me. If Allah has made me suffer, alḥamdulillāh; if Allah has given me many bounties and blessings, alḥamdulillāh. No complaints, but always shukr to Allah (swt). This, obviously, is a different level of ṣabr altogether.