as well as suppressing one’s rage, showing a pleasant countenance, greeting others warmly, and every other gracious trait. When the soul is schooled in such virtues until they become habitual, they ward off anger whenever its causes appear.

The second interpretation is that the directive means: once anger has arisen, do not act in accordance with it. Strive against yourself so that you do not carry out what it demands; instead, comply with whatever Allah commands. For when anger takes possession of a human being, it becomes the very force that issues his orders and prohibitions.

5 – Al-Mukhtaṣar al-Iḥyāʾ states: “Curing anger begins by cutting off the fuel that kindles it and the causes that provoke it. If, however, it does flare up, it is treated in several ways, among them reflecting on the reports that extol suppressing anger, forbearance, and endurance.”

Among those reports is the ḥadīth: “The strong man is not the one who defeats others in wrestling; rather, the strong man is the one who controls himself when he is angry” (al-Bukhārī 6114; Muslim 2609). Al-Bukhārī 6115 and Muslim 2610 likewise record the narration of Sulaymān ibn Ṣurad: “Two men insulted one another in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ while we were sitting with him. One of them reviled the other in a rage until his face turned red. The Prophet said, ‘I know a word which, if he were to say it, what he feels would vanish: he should say, I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil.’”