Appearance of Righteous Virtues Within

The people before testing, cannot evaluate themselves, and very often are unaware about the hidden energy in their existence. Let us consider the example of a strong person, who is possessed with plenty of natural physical strength without doing any special practice or physical exercise. Let us imagine that he has never participated in a weight lifting or any other physical competition, such a person is certainly not aware regarding the amount of physical strength in his body. We could only discover the Allah-given energy in our existence, when we are challenged to participate in a certain competition which requires the utilization of that particular energy.

The second important effect of patience is, that a patient person after offering resistance in different fields of life and against the events and obstacles, discovers about the amount of energy, its particulars, and the noble and higher sublime virtues hidden with in his existence, which were never discovered by him earlier, during a routine life without any headache.

Those who have suffered the pressures and harshness of life, and for the sake of their cherished noble aims and ideals, were subjected to severe tragedies and hardships appreciate the above meanings. Such individuals with an irreversible decree of determination, in their confrontation with great dangers, and severe pressures, while a strange naive observer would have considered them defeated and destroyed completely, because of their patience and endurance, were able to achieve a sense of relief and victory, an unprecedented power and surprising grandeur; within their existence, which was something completely new for them and was never realized by them before.

Therefore, it is because of patience, that a patient person could better recognize his self, as well as could better identify the positive points within his existence, and could discover the energy which was never identified throughout his life before.

Adapted from the book: "Discourse on Patience" by: "Seyyed Ali Khamenei'i"