17 Preface الصّابِرينَ وَالصّادِقينَ وَالقانِتينَ وَالمُنفِقينَ وَالمُستَغفِرينَ بِالأَسحارِYusuf AliThose who show patience, Firmness and selfcontrol1; who are true (in word and deed); who worship devoutly; who spend (in the way of God.; and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning2.Sabr (Sabirin) includes many shades of meaning: I have specified three here, viz., patience, firmness, and self-control. See 2:45 and 2:153 and notes thereon.True servants of God are described in 3:16 and 17. They have faith, humility, and hope (3:16); and they have certain virtues (3:17) viz., (1) patience, steadfastness, self-restraint, and all that goes under the full definition of Sabr: this shows a certain attitude of mind; (2) in all their dealings they are true and sincere as they are also in their promises and words; this marks them out in social conduct; (3) further, their spiritual worship is earnest and deep, an inner counterpart of their outward conduct; (4) their worship of God shows itself in their love of their fellow-men, for they are ready and liberal in charity; and (5) their self-discipline is so great that the first thing they do every morning is humbly to approach their God.