O you who believe, seek help through steadfastness and the Contact Prayers (Salat). GOD is with those who steadfastly persevere.

In the Quran, patience (sabr, which Dr. Khalifa's translation often renders as being "steadfast" or as "steadfastly persevere") is not passive waiting. It means holding firm to God under every circumstance: in hardship, under persecution, and when wronged. The Quran makes it one of the marks that separate the saved from the lost: "The human being is utterly lost. Except those who believe and lead a righteous life, and exhort one another to uphold the truth, and exhort one another to be steadfast" (103:2-3). It belongs to the Quran's definition of righteousness itself, which includes those who "steadfastly persevere in the face of persecution, hardship, and war" (2:177).
The first setting is the test. "We will surely test you through some fear, hunger, and loss of money, lives, and crops. Give good news to the steadfast" (2:155). The steadfast meet affliction by saying, "We belong to GOD, and to Him we are returning" (2:156). Dr. Khalifa explains in his footnote that the test is designed to prove that we worship God alone under all circumstances. Seen that way, patience is worship that does not depend on how things are going. It is also something you seek help through, together with prayer: "seek help through steadfastness and the Contact Prayers (Salat). GOD is with those who steadfastly persevere" (2:153). The Quran tells believers to enjoin their families to pray and to persevere in doing so (20:132). It also admits that patience does not come from willpower alone: "your patience is attainable only with GOD's help" (16:127).
The second setting is how we treat those who wrong us. Here the Quran weighs justice against something higher. It allows equal retaliation, yet adds: "But if you resort to patience (instead of revenge), it would be better for the patient ones" (16:126). Sura 42 takes the same line. Standing up for your rights is no error (42:39-41), but "Resorting to patience and forgiveness reflects a true strength of character" (42:43). Patience reaches as far as answering evil with good, "the nicest possible response," so that an enemy may become a best friend. The Quran adds: "None can attain this except those who steadfastly persevere" (41:34-35). The Quran Talk blog observes that giving up a revenge you are entitled to is itself a kind of charity, which explains why these verses end with God being with "those who are charitable" (16:128). The same pairing appears in 3:134, which joins giving with suppressing anger and pardoning people.
The stories bring this to life. Jacob, handed Joseph's shirt with fake blood on it, says: "All I can do is resort to a quiet patience. May GOD help me in the face of your conspiracy" (12:18). Years later, after losing a second son, he says it again: "Quiet patience is my only recourse. May GOD bring them all back to me" (12:83). The Arabic, sabrun jamil, literally means "beautiful patience": grief carried with trust, without despair. Joseph closes the story by naming the principle: "if one leads a righteous life, and steadfastly perseveres, GOD never fails to reward the righteous" (12:90). He then forgives his brothers outright (12:92). Job, struck by the devil "with hardship and pain," turned only to his Lord. God restored his family twice over and said of him, "We found him steadfast. What a good servant! He was a submitter" (38:41-44). Messengers such as Ismail, Idris, and Zal-Kifl are described the same way (21:85). The Prophet is told to "be patient like the messengers before you" and not to hurry the outcome (46:35).
What the Quran asks of the reader, then, is to stay firm, to trust God's promise, and to leave the verdict to Him: "you shall steadfastly persevere, for GOD's promise is the truth, and do not be intimidated by those who have not attained certainty" (30:60). The reward is described in the strongest terms. What we own runs out, but God will surely reward those who persevere (16:96), and "those who steadfastly persevere will receive their recompense generously, without limits" (39:10). The Quran's summary command puts patience first in a short list: "you shall be steadfast, you shall persevere, you shall be united, you shall observe GOD, that you may succeed" (3:200).
Verses
SubmissionAI can make mistakes. Check the sources.
We will surely test you through some fear, hunger, and loss of money, lives, and crops. Give good news to the steadfast.*
*2:155 The test is designed to prove that we worship God alone under all circumstances (29:2).
When an affliction befalls them, they say, "We belong to GOD, and to Him we are returning."
These have deserved blessings from their Lord and mercy. These are the guided ones.
And if you punish, you shall inflict an equivalent punishment. But if you resort to patience (instead of revenge), it would be better for the patient ones.
You shall resort to patience—and your patience is attainable only with GOD's help. Do not grieve over them, and do not be annoyed by their schemes.
Therefore, be patient like the messengers before you who possessed strength and resorted to patience. Do not be in a hurry to see the retribution that will inevitably come to them. The day they see it, it will seem as if they lasted one hour of the day. This is a proclamation: Is it not the wicked who are consistently annihilated?
*46:35 Quranic and mathematical evidence proves that the messenger addressed here is Rashad Khalifa. By adding the gematrical value of "Rashad Khalifa" (1230), plus the sura number (46), plus the verse number (35), we get 1311, or 19x69. This conforms with the Quran's code (App 2).