Tafsir of Hud 11:115

(And be patient): That is, [be patient] regarding the hardships of fulfilling what you have been charged with. In al-Kashshaf, it is stated that this is a recurrence to reminding of patience after mentioning that which serves as a conclusion to the previous reminders, due to its distinct virtue and merit, and to alert [one] to the status and place of patience. It is as if He said: "You must adhere to that which is more important than what I have reminded you of, and more deserving of being enjoined, which is patience in fulfilling what you have been commanded to do and abstaining from what you have been forbidden from, for none of it can be completed without it." End quote.

The aspect of it being a recurrence to what was previously mentioned is that the command for uprightness (istiqamah) is a command for steadfastness in speech, action, and belief—which is patience in the obedience of Allah Almighty—and it necessarily includes patience in refraining from His disobedience. Moreover, all that He, the Exalted, has mentioned cannot be fulfilled except through patience, so within the command for those things lies a command for patience.

The inclusion of "abstaining from what one is forbidden" among the objects of patience has been contested, on the grounds that there is no hardship in that. It has been excused by saying that by "what one is forbidden from"—in terms of transgression and leaning—it may be intended [to include] that which human beings cannot habitually be free from: the slightest inclination from the commanded uprightness due to nature, or a slight inclination due to humanity toward someone who has committed an injustice. For in refraining from such things, there is a hidden [degree of] hardship. This has been countered by the argument that what is a consequence of nature is not among the objects of prohibition; for this reason, they stated that a Muslim’s love for his disbelieving child, for instance, entails no sin. Therefore, it is better to say: the presence of hardship in fulfilling the totality of what one is charged with is sufficient for the purpose.

It is also said: the intended meaning of the commanded patience is perseverance in patience. It is as if it were said: "Establish prayer," i.e., perform it completely and persevere in it, similar to His saying: {And enjoin prayer upon your family and be steadfast therein}.

{For indeed Allah does not waste the reward of the doers of good}

(That is, He gives them the full reward of their deeds without any diminution whatsoever). He expressed this by negating "wasting" to manifest the perfection of His transcendence—the Exalted—from depriving them of any of their reward. He deviated from using a pronoun [e.g., "His reward"] in order for it to serve as a proof for the intended meaning, while simultaneously providing a general benefit for everyone who possesses that attribute. This is the reasoning for the command to be patient, and it contains an allusion that patience regarding what has been mentioned is a form of ihsan (doing good).

Muqatil interpreted ihsan here as sincerity (ikhlas). Ibn Abbas said: "The doers of good are those who pray," as if he looked toward the context of the speech. Among the Quranic rhetorical styles is that commands for righteous deeds were addressed singularly to the Prophet (may Allah Almighty bless him and grant him peace), even if they are general in meaning, while prohibitions were addressed to the community [in the plural]. How great is the status of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) before his Lord, the Glorified and Exalted!