How should taswiyah be understood in “فَاصْبِرُوا أَوْ لَا تَصْبِرُوا”?

Inshāʾ: Requestive and Non-requestive Forms, Imperative Constructions and Rhetorical Functions

• Both courses have identical ethical merit in every respect
• It is merely an ordinary choice
• Either response will not change the stated outcome of punishment
• It is a prayer for forgiveness