Quranic root
وصي
w · ṣ · y
A root oriented toward joining or linking one thing to another.
From the idea of connection, الوصية develops as speech linked to an action that another is to carry out, including an injunction, a testamentary disposition, and mutual exhortation.
- Maqāyīs · row 5133
- Mufradāt · row 1586
- 6
- Quran-attested forms
- 9
- Quran senses
- 32
- Quran occurrences
Forms in the Quran
The forms this root actually takes in the Quran. Select one to jump to its senses and examples.
وَصَّى
waṣṣā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form II
- Form
- II
- Quran occurrences
- 11 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To enjoin, charge, instruct, or command someone to do something.
Typically takes the person addressed as an object and the prescribed action or content as its complement; the charge may carry an admonitory or exhortative force.
- Lane · entry 30553
- Mufradāt · row 1586
Selected Quran examples
Quran 6:151word 39
“(He) has enjoined on you”
Quran 2:132word 1
“And enjoined”
أَوْصَى
ʾawṣā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form IV
- Form
- IV
- Quran occurrences
- 6 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To enjoin, instruct, or charge someone with a prescribed action.
Used for an authoritative instruction or charge, including an instruction given to a person or community and one presented as divinely prescribed.
- Lane · entry 30554
- Mufradāt · row 1586
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:11word 1
“Instructs you”
Quran 19:31word 6
“and has enjoined (on) me”
To make a will or bequeath property to someone.
Used in testamentary and inheritance contexts; passive wording can present a bequest as something made or stipulated.
- Lane · entry 30554
- Mufradāt · row 1586
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:12word 22
“they have made”
تَوَاصَى
tawāṣā
- Part of speech
- Verb · Form VI
- Form
- VI
- Quran occurrences
- 5 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
To enjoin, charge, or urge one another.
A reciprocal construction in which members of a group mutually pass on a charge or exhortation.
- Lane · entry 30555
- Mufradāt · row 1586
Selected Quran examples
Quran 103:3word 6
“and enjoin (each other)”
مُوصٍ
mūṣin
- Part of speech
- Active participle
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
One who makes a will or appoints a testamentary disposition; a testator.
The Quranic occurrence is used in a testamentary context.
- Lane · entry 30554
- Mufradāt · row 1586
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:182word 4
“(the) testator”
تَوْصِيَة
tawṣiyah
- Part of speech
- Verbal noun
- Quran occurrences
- 1 occurrence
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
The act of enjoining, charging, or instructing.
The verbal noun denotes the issuing of a charge to another person or group.
- Lane · entry 30553
- Mufradāt · row 1586
The making of a will or testamentary bequest.
In its Quranic occurrence, the verbal noun is used in a testamentary context.
- Lane · entry 30557
- Mufradāt · row 1586
Selected Quran examples
Quran 36:50word 3
“(to) make a will”
وَصِيَّة
waṣiyyah
- Part of speech
- Noun
- Quran occurrences
- 8 occurrences
Selected examples are shown with the sense they illustrate — chosen to teach that sense, not the complete list of this form’s Quran occurrences.
An injunction, prescribed charge, or admonitory command.
Used for a formal instruction or ordinance, including a charge presented as binding or divinely prescribed.
- Lane · entry 30557
- Mufradāt · row 1586
Selected Quran examples
Quran 4:12word 83
“An ordinance”
A will, testament, or testamentary bequest.
Used for a disposition of property or other instructions intended to take effect in a testamentary context.
- Lane · entry 30557
- Mufradāt · row 1586
Selected Quran examples
Quran 2:180word 10
“(making) the will”
Occurrences in the Quran
Every place this root appears, in Quran order. The first few are shown here.
- 2:132وَوَصَّىٰAnd enjoined
- 2:180ٱلْوَصِيَّةُ(making) the will
- 2:182مُّوصٍۢ(the) testator
- 2:240وَصِيَّةًۭ(should make) a will
- 4:11يُوصِيكُمُInstructs you
Broader Classical Arabic meanings
Recorded for this root in the Classical lexicons beyond its Quran usage. These are secondary to the Quran senses above.
Show 1 Classical meanings
وَصِيّ
A commissioned agent; especially an executor appointed by a will.
A nominal designation for the person entrusted with carrying out another person's instructions or testamentary appointment.
- Lane · entry 30556
Cautions
Points that affect how this root should be read.
The single QAC group qac-form:wSy:yuwSiy:verb:I is publicly merged into أَوْصَى because the supplied lexical evidence does not establish a separate Form I citation form, while its occurrence is covered by the same lexically supported bequest construction.
Unassigned or ambiguous evidence
Mufradat row 1586 contains the isolated wording «وَوَصَّى: أَنْشَأَ فَضْلَهُ»; its syntax and lexical force are unclear in the supplied text, and no independently located Quran usage is attached, so it is not promoted to a separate sense.