of leadership and love of the world, to what you dislike of submitting to My command and following My Messenger Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him—through patience in that and prayer.

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And it has been said: Indeed, the meaning of "patience" in this place is: fasting, and "fasting" is one of the meanings of "patience." And the interpretation of the one who interpreted it as such, according to us, (1) is that God, exalted be His mention, commanded them to be patient with what their souls disliked of obedience to God and abandoning disobedience to Him. The origin of patience (ṣabr) is withholding the soul from what it loves and restraining it from its desires; therefore, one who endures affliction is called "patient" (ṣābir), because he restrains his soul from panic; and the month of Ramadan is called "the month of patience," due to the patience of those fasting during it from food and drink during the day, (2) and its making them patient with that (3) is its confining them from it and restraining them from it, just as you hold a wrongdoer for execution, confining him until you execute him. (4) For that reason it is said: "So-and-so killed so-and-so in captivity (ṣabran)," meaning: he confined him until he killed him; so the slain person is "confined" (maṣbūr), and the killer is "confining" (ṣābir).

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As for prayer, we have already mentioned its meaning previously. (5)

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So if a questioner says to us: We have understood the meaning of the command to seek help through patience in fulfilling the covenant and maintaining obedience; so what is the meaning of the command to seek help through prayer in obeying God, abandoning disobedience to Him, divesting oneself of leadership, and abandoning worldly pursuits? It is said: Indeed, in prayer there is the recitation of the Book of God, whose verses call to rejecting the world and abandoning