M5
Gratitude and patience
"If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]" (14:7), and "Allah is with the patient" (2:153). Gratitude is for what is given and patience for what is taken; the Prophet (pbuh) wept when his son died and still said only what pleased God.
وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ ۖ وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُمْ إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ٧
Transliteration: wa-idh ta-adhana rabbukum la-in shakartum la-azīdannakum wala-in kafartum inna ʿadhābī lashadīdun
And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.' "
Translation: Saheeh International
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O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient. 2:153
Arabic text and transliteration
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ
yāayyuhā alladhīna āmanū is'taʿīnū bil-ṣabri wal-ṣalati inna l-laha maʿa l-ṣābirīna
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Say, "O My servants who have believed, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this world is good, and the earth of Allah is spacious. Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account." 39:10
Arabic text and transliteration
قُلْ يَٰعِبَادِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ۚ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا۟ فِى هَٰذِهِ ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ ۗ وَأَرْضُ ٱللَّهِ وَٰسِعَةٌ ۗ إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى ٱلصَّٰبِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
qul yāʿibādi alladhīna āmanū ittaqū rabbakum lilladhīna aḥsanū fī hādhihi l-dun'yā ḥasanatun wa-arḍu l-lahi wāsiʿatun innamā yuwaffā l-ṣābirūna ajrahum bighayri ḥisābin
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What it means
Shukr and ṣabr. Shukr (gratitude) means recognising a gift, its Giver, and using it well. Its opposite is kufr al-niʿma, "covering over" a blessing — the same root as kufr, unbelief. Ṣabr (patience) means holding oneself steady: not despairing, not lashing out, continuing to do right under pressure.
What the Quran says
Gratitude and increase (14:7). "And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, 'If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe'" (14:7). In Sura Ibrahim (Meccan), Moses (pbuh) reminds the Children of Israel of this, after their rescue from Pharaoh (14:6). Ibn Kathir explains "increase" as: "if you appreciate My favor on you, I will give you more of it"; denying is being "not thankful for My favors, covering and denying, them"; and the punishment includes "depriving you of the favor and punishing you for being unappreciative of it."
What "increase" does and does not mean. The verse does not say how, when or in what form the increase comes, or that a grateful person's life will improve in worldly terms. Many reflective Muslims read it as including increase in the blessing of contentment itself; that is a reading, not the verse's words. And "My punishment is severe" in Ibn Kathir's reading is first the loss of the favour — not a threat aimed at someone who struggles to feel grateful, but at the one who denies the gift.
Patience and prayer (2:153, 2:155–157). "O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient" (2:153). Two verses later: "And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, 'Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.' Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy" (2:155–157). The words of 2:156, innā li-llāhi wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn, are what Muslims say on hearing of a death.
Reward "without account" (39:10). "Say, 'O My servants who have believed, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this world is good, and the earth of Allah is spacious. Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account'" (39:10), Meccan. Ibn Kathir cites Mujahid on "the earth of Allah is spacious": "So emigrate through it and strive hard and keep away from idols", and al-Awzaʿi on "without account": "Their reward will not be weighed or measured; they will be given an immense reward." The verse was spoken to Meccan believers under persecution.
What the Prophet (pbuh) taught
The woman at the grave. Anas (ra) reports that the Prophet (pbuh) "passed by a woman who was weeping beside a grave. He told her to fear Allah and be patient. She said to him, 'Go away, for you have not been afflicted with a calamity like mine.' And she did not recognize him." When she was told who he was, she went to his house — "and there she did not find any guard" — and said, "I did not recognize you." He said: "Verily, the patience is at the first stroke of a calamity" (Bukhārī 1283 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound); a short version is Bukhārī 1302 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). He did not scold her for weeping; he told her that patience counts most at the first shock — and he received her at his door without guards.
The Prophet (pbuh) wept for his son. Anas (ra) reports that when the Prophet's (pbuh) infant son Ibrahim was dying, his eyes filled with tears. ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAwf asked about it, and he said: "O Ibn ʿAuf, this is mercy." Then: "The eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our Lord, O Ibrahim! Indeed we are grieved by your separation" (Bukhārī 1303 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). Patience in Islam is not the absence of tears; it is not letting grief turn into words against God.
How scholars have understood it
Al-Ghazali's book on patience and gratitude. Book 32 of al-Ghazali's Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn is devoted to the two; its first part explains patience and why it is "considered to be half of faith", and its second explains gratitude (publisher's description of Littlejohn's translation). The well-known saying that faith is "half patience and half gratitude" is often attributed to this book or quoted as a hadith; neither the passage nor the hadith's grading was checked.
What research shows
Gratitude exercises raise wellbeing a little. [Moderate; small effect.] Kirca, Malouf and Meynadier (2023) combined 25 randomised trials (about 6,700 participants) of "expressed gratitude" exercises — such as writing thank-you letters. Compared with neutral activities, they improved happiness, life satisfaction and positive feelings slightly (g = 0.22, 95% CI 0.11–0.33). Compared with other active exercises, the difference was small and not statistically significant (g = 0.12, CI −0.02 to 0.26). The review did not measure depression or anxiety.
What this means. Practising gratitude seems to help a little, but not much more than other good habits. It is not a cure, and it should not be pressed on someone who is depressed as if it were.
In daily life
Name three gifts at the end of each day, including small ones, and thank God for them.
Say 2:156 at the first shock of bad news, even if your heart is not yet calm. That is the "first stroke" the Prophet (pbuh) spoke of.
Let yourself grieve. Tears are mercy (Bukhārī 1303 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)); patience is in what you say and do, not in pretending not to feel.
Pair patience with action. Patience does not mean accepting injustice that can be changed; it means steadiness while you do what can be done.
For the heart and mind
If you can't feel grateful because your life is getting worse, you are not the person 14:7 warns. The verse warns those who deny God's gifts, not those who are exhausted or grieving. Start with patience: 2:155–157 promises "blessings… and mercy" to those who hold on through loss.
If you have been told "be patient" in a way that silenced you, the Prophet (pbuh) did not silence the grieving woman; he spoke to her gently, and received her when she came to him.
Questions readers ask next
How do I stay grateful when 14:7 promises increase but my life is getting worse?
The verse does not say how or when the increase comes. Gratitude for what remains, and patience for what is lost, are both called for; neither requires pretending.
What does "My punishment is severe" mean for someone who struggles to feel grateful?
Ibn Kathir explains it as losing the favour as a result of denying it. It is aimed at denial, not at someone in pain.
What is 2:156?
"Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return" — said at the news of a death or loss.
What does "without account" in 39:10 mean?
Al-Awzaʿi: the reward "will not be weighed or measured".
Is "faith is half patience and half gratitude" a hadith?
It is widely quoted; its authenticity has not yet been checked. Al-Ghazali's Book 32 discusses patience as "half of faith".
What is the full story behind "patience is at the first stroke"?
See the woman at the grave above (Bukhārī 1283 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)).
Sources
- Saheeh International via the site's Tanzil data — 14:7, 2:153, 2:155–157, 39:10, 94:5–6.
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (abridged English), on 14:7, https://surahquran.com/tafsir-english-aya-7-sora-14.html, and on 39:10, https://surahquran.com/tafsir-english-aya-10-sora-39.html.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1283 (sunnah.com, https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1283) and 1302 (via hadithunlocked.com) — the woman at the grave.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 1303 (sunnah.com, https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1303) — the death of the Prophet's son Ibrahim.
- Al-Ghazali, On Patience and Thankfulness (Iḥyāʾ, Book 32), trans. H. T. Littlejohn (Islamic Texts Society) — publisher's description, https://fonsvitae.com/?p=1903.
- A. Kirca, J. M. Malouf and J. Meynadier, "The Effect of Expressed Gratitude Interventions on Psychological Wellbeing: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Studies", International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology 8 (2023), pp. 63–86, https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s41042-023-00086-6.pdf.
- Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2999; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 4837
- Cregg & Cheavens 2021 (Semantic Scholar)