Be patient and steadfast through every misfortune, and know that…
Quote
Be patient and steadfast through every misfortune, and know that a human being is not immortal.
Arabic original
اصبر لكل مصيبة وتجلد، واعلم بأن المرء غير مخلد.
What it means
The verse encourages endurance through hardship while remembering that life is finite. Its consolation joins patience with recognition of human fragility, without pretending that sorrow disappears at once.
The story behind this quote
Al-Qurtubi quotes these lines under Abu al-Atahiya’s name in his commentary on verses 156 and 157 of al-Baqarah. The linked source is that commentary transmitting the poem.
In the commentary transmitting the poem, the passage accompanies a religious reflection on responding to misfortune. The translation retains the call for firmness and the mention of mortality. Together they offer consolation through endurance, understood in context rather than as a demand to erase all pain.
The source
تفسير القرطبي (الجامع لأحكام القرآن), أبيات أوردها القرطبي منسوبة إلى أبي العتاهية، عند تفسير الآيتين 156 و157 من سورة البقرة
The text appears in the indicated source. A traditional attribution remains distinct from proof of authorship: see the context.