LessonsEquality, Goodness, and Controlling Anger (Hadith 98-103)Quiz

إِنَّ الْغَضَبَ لَيُفْسِدُ الْإِيمَانَ كَمَا يُفْسِدُ الصَّبِرُ الْعَسَلَ
Translation: Anger damages faith as bitter aloe spoils honey.

Source: البيهقي

Anger is a human emotion, but uncontrolled anger can lead to abusive speech, unfairness, broken trust, and damaged relationships. The narration uses a concrete comparison: الصَّبِرُ is the intensely bitter substance aloe, while الْعَسَلَ is honey. Just as bitterness spoils sweetness, unchecked anger can harm the practice of faith.

لَيُفْسِدُ includes an emphatic lām and the present verb يُفْسِدُ, “spoils.” كَمَا introduces the comparison, “just as.” الصَّبِرُ is the subject/agent of the second verb and الْعَسَلَ its object. الصَّبِرُ has fatḥah on ṣād and kasrah on bāʾ; this is not الصَّبْر, patience.

This does not mean a passing feeling of irritation instantly removes faith. The warning concerns what anger leads a person to say and do, and the need for self-restraint and repair.

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Hadith 103: Anger and the image of honey

Equality, Goodness, and Controlling Anger (Hadith 98-103)

إِنَّ الْغَضَبَ لَيُفْسِدُ الْإِيمَانَ كَمَا يُفْسِدُ الصَّبِرُ الْعَسَلَ
Translation: Anger damages faith as bitter aloe spoils honey.

Source: البيهقي

Anger is a human emotion, but uncontrolled anger can lead to abusive speech, unfairness, broken trust, and damaged relationships. The narration uses a concrete comparison: الصَّبِرُ is the intensely bitter substance aloe, while الْعَسَلَ is honey. Just as bitterness spoils sweetness, unchecked anger can harm the practice of faith.

لَيُفْسِدُ includes an emphatic lām and the present verb يُفْسِدُ, “spoils.” كَمَا introduces the comparison, “just as.” الصَّبِرُ is the subject/agent of the second verb and الْعَسَلَ its object. الصَّبِرُ has fatḥah on ṣād and kasrah on bāʾ; this is not الصَّبْر, patience.

This does not mean a passing feeling of irritation instantly removes faith. The warning concerns what anger leads a person to say and do, and the need for self-restraint and repair.