Received in two reasonably healthy plants of Anubias afzelii, both of which have lost their leaves in an otherwise healthy planted tank. I'm left with brown stubs, no roots, and no signs of new growth.


Should I just be patient, or are they likely dead?

I would toss them. "Brown stubs, no roots..." tells me they are dead.

Did you plant the rhizomes in the substrate? If you did that is the reason they died; the rhizome needs to be above the substrate tied or glued or stuck onto/into a rock, driftwood, or other object.

If any part of the rhizome is till alive and not much, you could leave it on the substrate and see what comes up. It may very well recover.