How many times is patience (sabr) mentioned in the Quran?
103 times, counting every form of صَبْر. Here is every word from its root, where it appears most, and the verses that explain it.
times in the Quran
in 45 surahs
Sabr is not quiet suffering. In the Quran it means holding firm: staying obedient, staying away from what is wrong, and accepting what Allah has decreed without giving up on Him.
Every form of the root ص ب ر
| Word | Meaning | Times |
|---|---|---|
| صَبَرَ | to be patient, to persevere | 58 |
| صابِر | the patient ones | 21 |
| صَبْر | patience (the noun, sabr) | 15 |
| صَبّار | very patient, always enduring | 4 |
| اصْطَبِرْ | be constant, persevere | 3 |
| صابِرَة | patient (feminine) | 2 |
Counted in the Quranic Arabic Corpus morphology: each word is counted once, in every form built from the lemma (singular, dual, plural, with attached letters such as “and” or “the”). Other counting rules give slightly different numbers.
Where it appears most
| Surah | Words from this root |
|---|---|
| 2. Al-Baqarah | 9 |
| 3. Ali 'Imran | 8 |
| 18. Al-Kahf | 8 |
| 16. An-Nahl | 7 |
| 8. Al-Anfal | 5 |
Key verses about patience
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ
O ye who believe! Seek help in steadfastness and prayer. Lo! Allah is with the steadfast.
وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَىْءٍ مِّنَ ٱلْخَوْفِ وَٱلْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ ٱلْأَمْوَٰلِ وَٱلْأَنفُسِ وَٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلصَّـٰبِرِينَ
And surely We shall try you with something of fear and hunger, and loss of wealth and lives and crops; but give glad tidings to the steadfast,
قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمْ ۚ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا۟ فِى هَـٰذِهِ ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ ۗ وَأَرْضُ ٱللَّهِ وَٰسِعَةٌ ۗ إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى ٱلصَّـٰبِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
Say: O My bondmen who believe! Observe your duty to your Lord. For those who do good in this world there is good, and Allah's earth is spacious. Verily the steadfast will be paid their wages without stint.
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ
Save those who believe and do good works, and exhort one another to truth and exhort one another to endurance.
وَٱسْتَعِينُوا۟ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلَوٰةِ ۚ وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلْخَـٰشِعِينَ
Seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is hard save for the humble-minded,
English: Marmaduke Pickthall (public domain). Arabic: Uthmani script, via quran.com.
What these verses teach
Almost every time patience appears, something is promised with it. Allah is with the patient (2:153), they are given their reward without measure (39:10), and patience is named alongside prayer as the help to ask for (2:45). The Quran rarely asks for patience without telling you what it leads to.
Dua for patience · Daily dhikr
More Quran word counts
Frequently asked questions
How many times is sabr mentioned in the Quran?
Sabr (صَبْر) appears 103 times in the Quran, counting every form of the word. Words from its root, ص ب ر, appear 103 times in all.
Which surah mentions sabr the most?
Al-Baqarah (Surah 2), with 9 words from the root ص ب ر.
Why do other websites give different numbers?
Counts depend on the rule used: whether plurals and verb forms are included, and whether the whole root is counted or one word. We count words as written in the Hafs text, using the Quranic Arabic Corpus, and print the rule on the page.