Uddat al-Sabirin wa Dhakhirat al-Shakirin
- Author died
- 751 AH
- Editions
- T. Ataat al-Ilm · T Dar Ibn Kathir
Uddat al-Sabirin wa Dhakhirat al-Shakirin (The Equipment of the Patient and the Provision of the Grateful) is a treatise on Islamic ethics and spirituality by the Hanbali scholar Ibn al-Qayyim (691–751 AH / 1292–1350 CE), dedicated to the virtues of patience (sabr) and gratitude (shukr) .
Title and Transmission
The author explicitly designated the title in his introduction as Uddat al-Sabirin wa Dhakhirat al-Shakirin . An original manuscript's title page contained the descriptive addition fi al-Sabr wa-l-Shukr ("On Patience and Gratitude") . Biographical writers and bibliographers, including Ibn Rajab, al-Dawudi, Ibn al-Imad, and Siddiq Hasan Khan al-Qannawji, frequently shortened the title to Uddat al-Sabirin . Hajji Khalifa recorded the work under its full title and separately listed Kitab al-Sabr wa-l-Shukr, which later bibliographers noted was merely a description of the same treatise . Isma'il Pasha listed it as Kitab al-Sabr wa-l-Sakan, an error stemming from a scribal corruption of al-Shukr .
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into twenty-six chapters (abwab) followed by a conclusion (khatimah) :
- Linguistic and Conceptual Foundations (Chapters 1–4): The linguistic derivation, morphology, and definitions of sabr; discourse of scholars on its reality; its varying names according to context; and the distinctions between sabr, tasabbur, istibar, and musabarah .
- Classifications and Degrees of Patience (Chapters 5–13): Divisions of patience according to locus (physical and spiritual), strength against passions, and subject matter; its categorization under the five legal rulings (al-ahkam al-khamsah); gradations of patience; its division into praiseworthy and blameworthy; the contrast between the patience of the noble and the ignoble; practical means that aid patience; and the universal human need for patience in all states of life .
- Textual Proofs and Calamities (Chapters 14–18): The most arduous forms of patience on the soul; scriptural evidence from the Quran and Sunnah; reports from the Companions on the virtue of patience; and rulings concerning grief, lamentation, tearing garments, and pre-Islamic practices of mourning .
- The Relationship between Patience and Gratitude (Chapter 19): Exposition of the report transmitted from early authorities that faith consists of two halves: one half patience and one half gratitude .
- The Debate over Superiority (Chapters 20–24): Scholarly disagreements concerning whether patience or gratitude is superior, followed by a detailed adjudication of the dispute between the grateful wealthy person (al-ghani al-shakir) and the patient poor person (al-faqir al-sabir), presenting the scriptural and rational arguments adduced by both sides .
- Impediments and Divine Attributes (Chapters 25–26): Actions and attitudes that contradict or undermine patience, concluding with an analysis of patience and gratitude as divine attributes and the inclusion of al-Sabur and al-Shakur among the divine names .
Method and Sources
Ibn al-Qayyim relied heavily on Quranic exegesis, prophetic traditions, reports from the early generations (salaf), and poetic citations to illustrate his arguments . He presented extensive lists of proofs and parables, such as detailing twenty aspects demonstrating that patience in performing obligatory duties surpasses patience in abstaining from prohibited acts, and twenty-two parables depicting the nature of worldly life .
The structure and core themes of the treatise share notable commonalities with the book on patience and gratitude in Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din . However, Ibn al-Qayyim diverged on various classifications and conclusions; for example, he maintained that voluntary patience (al-sabr al-ikhtiyari) is more complete than involuntary patience (al-sabr al-idtirari), whereas al-Ghazali favored the latter .
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