Where patience actually counts
Said to a woman crying at a grave who did not recognise him.
إِنَّمَا الصَّبْرُ عِنْدَ الصَّدْمَةِ الأُولَى
Fear Allah and be patient. She said: go away from me, you have not been afflicted with my calamity. When she was told who he was, she came to his door and found no guards, and said: I did not recognise you. He said: patience is at the first blow.
He did not correct her for how she spoke to him. He repeated the point when she came back.
The full narration
Narrated Anas bin Malik:The Prophet (ﷺ) passed by a woman who was weeping beside a grave. He told her to fear Allah and be patient. She said to him, "Go away, for you have not been afflicted with a calamity like mine." And she did not recognize him. Then she was informed that he was the Prophet (ﷺ) . so she went to the house of the Prophet (ﷺ) and there she did not find any guard. Then she said to him, "I did not recognize you." He said, "Verily, the patience is at the first stroke of a calamity
Source
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī · 1283
- Agreed upon as authentic (al-Bukhārī / Muslim)