LessonsInshāʾ: Requestive and Non-requestive Forms, Imperative Constructions and Rhetorical FunctionsQuiz

فَاصْبِرُوا أَوْ لَا تَصْبِرُوا
Be patient or do not be patient.

This occurs in Qurʾān 52:16, in the context of punishment. The point is not to urge selection of the better of two paths, but to say that, with respect to the stated consequence, patience and lack of patience will make no difference. This is taswiyah, equalization.

فَاصْبِرُوا: fāʾ followed by a plural imperative.
أَوْ لَا تَصْبِرُوا: “or” introduces the alternative; prohibitive lā governs the jussive “تَصْبِرُوا,” marked by deletion of nūn.

Contrast with takhyīr: choice foregrounds selecting an option; equalization foregrounds the absence of a difference in the particular result under discussion.

Opening interactive controls...

11. Equalizing outcomes (taswiyah)

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

فَاصْبِرُوا أَوْ لَا تَصْبِرُوا
Be patient or do not be patient.

This occurs in Qurʾān 52:16, in the context of punishment. The point is not to urge selection of the better of two paths, but to say that, with respect to the stated consequence, patience and lack of patience will make no difference. This is taswiyah, equalization.

فَاصْبِرُوا: fāʾ followed by a plural imperative.
أَوْ لَا تَصْبِرُوا: “or” introduces the alternative; prohibitive lā governs the jussive “تَصْبِرُوا,” marked by deletion of nūn.

Contrast with takhyīr: choice foregrounds selecting an option; equalization foregrounds the absence of a difference in the particular result under discussion.