The second kind is patience in abstaining from what Allah has forbidden. The soul covets the unlawful and its passions; it leans toward them and reaches out for them. One must therefore bind it and hold it back from the prohibitions—and that calls for patience. Curbing the soul’s appetite for forbidden desires is no easy task; whoever lacks patience will find his soul overpowering him and steering him toward the unlawful.

The third kind is patience with the painful decrees of Allah: the calamities that strike a person, such as the death of a relative, the loss of wealth, or an illness that afflicts him. He must bear Allah’s decree with composure—neither panicking nor complaining—restraining his tongue from wailing or protest, his heart from despair, and his limbs from slapping the cheeks or tearing the garments. This is patience in the face of calamities.

As for shameful deeds, one must not be “patient” with them; rather, he must repent to Allah and recoil from them. When it comes to calamities over which you have no control—those that come from Allah, Who has decreed them for you as a test and a trial, or as a punishment for sins you have committed—your stance is different, as He says: “Whatever calamity befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned, yet He pardons much” (al-Shura 42:30).

Therefore, when a Muslim is afflicted by a misfortune touching his own person, his wealth, his child, a relative, or any of his fellow Muslims, he must meet it with patience and hope for the reward from Allah.