Arabic root

و-ص-ي

Waw-Sad-Ya

2 words from this root family

About this root

Waw-Sad-Ya (و-ص-ي) has 2 words in the Fahm dictionary: waṣiyyah (bequest / will / commandment), tawṣiya (recommendation).

In the Quran, words built on this root occur 32 times in 21 verses, across 13 of the 114 suras. The first is in 2:132. The form وَصِيَّةٌ (bequest / will / commandment) accounts for 8 of them.

Themes: Quranic, Academic Formal

Words from this root

Word	Meaning	Type	In the Quran	Taught in
وَصِيَّةٌ waṣiyyah	bequest / will / commandment	noun, B2	8×	Advanced Quranic & Islamic Terminology
تَوْصِيَة tawṣiya	recommendation	noun, B2	1×	Critical Thinking

“In the Quran” counts every occurrence of that dictionary form, in any of its senses.

In the Quran

وَوَصَّىٰ بِهَآ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ بَنِيهِ وَيَعْقُوبُ يَـٰبَنِىَّ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ ٱصْطَفَىٰ لَكُمُ ٱلدِّينَ فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ

The same did Abraham enjoin upon his sons, and also Jacob, (saying): O my sons! Lo! Allah hath chosen for you the (true) religion; therefore die not save as men who have surrendered (unto Him).

Quran 2:132

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ إِن تَرَكَ خَيْرًا ٱلْوَصِيَّةُ لِلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ

It is prescribed for you, when death approacheth one of you, if he leave wealth, that he bequeath unto parents and near relatives in kindness. (This is) a duty for all those who ward off (evil).

Quran 2:180

فَلَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ تَوْصِيَةً وَلَآ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِمْ يَرْجِعُونَ

Then they cannot make bequest, nor can they return to their own folk.

Quran 36:50

Arabic text: Tanzil Quran Text (Uthmani 1.1), CC BY 3.0, tanzil.net. English: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), public domain, via Project Gutenberg. Counts and verse choice: Quranic Arabic Corpus morphology data (corpus.quran.com).

Word cards with examples

B2noun

وَصِيَّةٌ

waṣiyyah

bequest / will / commandment

Example

كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمْ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ إِنْ تَرَكَ خَيْرًا الْوَصِيَّةُ

kutiba ʿalaykum idhā ḥaḍara aḥadakumu al-mawtu in taraka khayran al-waṣiyyah

Prescribed for you when death approaches any of you, if he leaves wealth, is that he should make a bequest (2:180)

Root: و-ص-ي Quranic

Grammar

Feminine noun. Plural: وَصَايَا (waṣāyā). Verb: أَوْصَى (Form IV, to bequeath/command). Also means divine commandment (as in God's waṣiyyah).

Culture

Islamic inheritance law balances fixed shares (farāʾiḍ) with the flexibility of the waṣiyyah - up to one-third of one's estate can be bequeathed freely.

B2noun

تَوْصِيَة

tawṣiya