Learn Farsi: سختی در زندگی طبیعی است، اما ما باید صبوری داشته باشیم. - Hardship in life is natural, but we must have patience.

Both are formed by taking an adjective and adding the suffix -i. The adjective sakht (hard or difficult) becomes the noun sakhti (hardship), and the adjective sabur (patient) becomes the noun saburi (patience).

The word tabiei (natural) also ends in an -i sound. Is it an abstract noun too?

No, it is actually the reverse. The suffix -i is very versatile. While it turns adjectives into abstract nouns (like sakhti), it can also turn nouns into adjectives. Here, the noun tabiat (nature) takes the suffix to become the adjective tabiei (natural).

Does the word zendegi (life) use a similar suffix rule to form an abstract noun?

Yes, it does. The root word is the adjective zende (alive). Because zende ends in a silent 'e' sound, you cannot simply add the regular -i suffix. Instead, Farsi uses the variation -gi to bridge the gap, resulting in zendegi (life).

Why does the sentence use dâshte bâshim instead of the regular present tense dârim for 'we have'?

Because of the word bâyad (must). In Farsi, modal verbs like bâyad force the following verb into the subjunctive mood. The verb 'to have' has a unique subjunctive form, which is created using plus the present subjunctive of 'to be' (which is for 'we').