Tafsir of Imaam As-Sadi (rahimahullah) on Surah Al-Baqarah 2:153
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ
O you who believe! Seek help in patience and As-Salat (the prayer). Truly! Allah is with As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.).
Imaam As Sadi rahimahullah comments:
Patience means controlling oneself in the face of that which one dislikes.
That is of three types: patience in obedience to Allah, so that you will do it; patience in refraining from disobedience to Allah, so that you will not do it; and patience in accepting the decree of Allah when it is hard, so that you will not resent it.
Patience is a great help in all matters, and there is no way for one who is not patient to achieve his goals, especially with regard to acts of worship that are difficult and are to be done regularly, because they require a great deal of patience to bear the hardship involved.
If the one who does these acts of worship adheres to patience, he will attain success, but if he is deterred by difficulty and hardship, and does not have the patience to persist in these acts of worship, he will not achieve anything, and he will be deprived.
Similarly, the sin for which one has a strong inclination and which is within one’s means is something that cannot be resisted except by means of great patience, resisting one’s inclination for the sake of Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) and by seeking Allah’s help to protect one from it, for it is one of the greatest temptations and is also a very difficult test, especially if it is ongoing.
In such cases willpower and physical strength grow weak, and it may lead to resentment, unless one resists it by means of patience for the sake of Allah and puts one’s trust in Him, turning to Him and expressing one’s constant need for His help.
Therefore we know that patience is something that people need; in fact they are in desperate need of it in all situations.
Hence Allah has enjoined it and tells us that He is {with those who are patient} that is, He is with those for whom patience is second nature. He is with them in the sense of helping and guiding them, thus hardships and difficulties become easy for them, they become able to cope with any serious matter and nothing is difficult for them.
This kind of ‘being with’ is indicative of Allah’s love, help, support and closeness, and it is a great privilege that is bestowed upon those who are patient.
If those who are patient did not have any virtue other than the fact that Allah is with them, that would be sufficient honour for them.
As for ‘being with’ in a general sense, it means that Allah is with us by His knowledge and power, as Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) says:
{...He is with you wherever you may be...}
(al-Hadeed 57: 4)
This is general in meaning and applies to everyone. Allah enjoins seeking help through prayer because prayer is the foundation of the faith and the light of the believers; it is the connection between the slave and his Lord.
If a person’s prayer is complete, including every obligatory and sunnah action, and it is done with the presence of mind that is its essence, when the individual begins to pray, feeling that he is indeed standing before his Lord, standing like a well-disciplined slave, focusing on everything that he says and does, fully immersed in conversing with his Lord and calling upon Him, then this prayer is most certainly one of the greatest helps in all one’s affairs.
Prayer restrains one from shameful and evil acts, because this focus in prayer will lead him to comply with the commands of his Lord and heed His prohibitions.
This is the prayer through which Allah has enjoined us to seek help in all our affairs.
Tafsir As-Sadi volume 1 pgs. 180-181 iiph edition
