Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:153
O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of His words, the Exalted: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلاةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ (153)
("O you who believe, seek help through patience (ṣabr) and the ritual prayer (ṣalāh); truly, Allah is with the patient.") (153)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This verse is an exhortation from Allah, whose remembrance is exalted, to obedience to Him, and to bearing patiently the detestable part of it that afflicts the bodies and the possessions. So He said: "O you who believe, seek help through patience (ṣabr) and the ritual prayer (ṣalāh)" — in carrying out obedience to Me, and in fulfilling My obligations regarding that part of My ordinances which is abrogating, and in turning away from that which I abrogate of it toward that which I newly introduce for you of My obligations, and toward which I transfer you of My ordinances, and in submission to My command concerning that which I command you at the moment that I bind you to its ruling, and in turning away from it after I have turned you away from it — even if there befalls you thereby something detestable from the sayings of your enemies among the disbelievers (kuffār), in that they assail you with falsehood, or a hardship for your bodies in carrying it out, or a diminution in your possessions — and in the jihād against your enemies and in fighting them upon My path, through your patience for My sake with the detestable part of it and with its hardship for you, and through bearing its weight and its burden, and then through your recourse — in that which befalls you of distressing matters — to prayer to Me. For truly, through patience with the adversities you attain My good pleasure, and through prayer to Me you obtain what you desire from Me, and you reach what you need from Me. For truly, I am with the patient in carrying out the fulfillment of My obligations and the abandonment of disobedience to Me; I help them, watch over them, and protect them, until they triumph through that which they have desired and hoped for from Me.
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And I have already set forth the meaning of "patience (al-ṣabr)" and "the prayer (al-ṣalāh)" previously, and therefore we have deemed it disagreeable to repeat that, such as:
2315 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning His words: "and seek help through patience and the prayer," he says: seek help through patience and the prayer in attaining the good pleasure of Allah, and know that both of them belong to the obedience of Allah.
2316 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His words: "O you who believe, seek help through patience and the prayer," know that both of them are a help in the obedience of Allah.
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As for His words: "truly, Allah is with the patient" — the explanation of that is: truly, Allah is his helper and his support and is pleased with his deed. It is like the saying of one who says: "Do such-and-such, O so-and-so, and I am with you," by which he means: truly, I am your helper in that deed of yours and your support therein.
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Footnotes:
(61) These are clauses interwoven into one another, and the connection of the conjunction (ʿaṭf) in this sentence is: "seek help through patience and the prayer in carrying out obedience to Me, and in fulfilling My obligations... and in turning away from that which I abrogate... and in submission to My command... and in turning away from it... and in the jihād against your enemies... through patience...".
(62) See in the preceding the explanation of "the prayer (al-ṣalāh)" 1: 242–243, then 2: 11. And the explanation of "patience (al-ṣabr)" in 2: 11, 124, and see the index of linguistics.
