يَٰبُنَىَّ أَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَأْمُرْ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَٱنْهَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَٱصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَآ أَصَابَكَ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ ٱلْأُمُورِ
"My dear son! Keep up the prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and endure what befalls you. Surely these are among the matters that require resolve."
| Order | Command | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aqimi'ṣ-ṣalāta | Inward / upward |
| 2 | Wa'mur bi'l-maʿrūf | Outward — positive |
| 3 | Wa'nha ʿani'l-munkar | Outward — negative |
| 4 | Wa'ṣbir ʿalā mā aṣābak | Inward again — consequence |
The sequence is worth recording, and I give this as my own reading: the fourth command meets the natural consequence of the second and the third. That is, the list itself grants that saying something to people has a price. Endurance is set beside the counsel not as an ornament but as necessary equipment.
عَزْمِ ٱلْأُمُور — ʿazm: root ع-ز-م, firm resolve; the sense "to cut off" is recorded in the root as well. Ulu'l-ʿazmi mina'r-rusul was treated at 46/35 in al-Aḥqāf; I rely on that treatment. The same root, in one place an attribute of prophets, here an attribute of matters.