Aṣ-Ṣabūr

The Most Patient

Root ص ب ر (ṣ-b-r). Lane gives ṣabarahu as ‘he confined him... restrained, or withheld, him’; ṣabr is restraining the self, the word for patience and steadfastness. Ṣābir means someone who is patient, while ṣabbār is used for the most patient, as seen in Qur'an 14:5. Iṣṭabir means to be steadfast, appearing in Qur'an 19:65. Though the Qur'an does not use Aṣ-Ṣabūr as a name for Allah, the sense is attested in hadith: ‘none is more patient (aṣbar) with harm he hears than Allah’ (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6099, 7378).