maṣdarفِدَآءٌ مُفَادَاةٌmuḍāriʿيَفْدِيهِ
Core sense — he ransomed him, he gave a ransom for him and freed himgenerated
1.1he liberated him, or ransomed him, [from captivity]—مِنَ الأَسْرِ
[omitted in my copy of the Msb, probably by inadvertence,] and فَدًى or فِدًى, or perhaps both of these.
Fr said on one occasion that the latter of these is the more common, [which is the case when it is a substantive, like فِدْيَةٌ,] but 'Alee Ibn-Suleymán El-Akhfash [i. e. El-Akhfash El-Asghar] is related to have said that this is allowable only by poetic license.
El-Kálee says that الفِدَى was used by the Arabs together with الحِمَى [see حِمَآءُ in art. حمى], but that other forms were used in other cases [among which he seems to mention فَدَآء with fet-h and the lengthened alif, though the words in which I find this expressed are somewhat ambiguous, and are also made doubtful by an erasure and an alteration].
Also افتداهُ [from which an example in a verse will be found below], or افتدى بِهِ and مِنْهُ [but I do not know افتدى in either of these phrases as having any meaning other than the well-known one of فَدَى نَفْسَهُ, which is strangely left out in the K].
Also فادِاهُ, but some explain this differently [as will be shown below].
He gave his ransom; he gave a thing, or a captive, for him, and so set him free; that is, he ransomed him.
[اَعْطاهُ in the CK is a mistake for أَعْطَى, without the affixed pronoun.]
he loosed him, or set him free, and took his ransom—فاداهُ
giving a man and taking a man [in exchange]—مُفَادَاةٌ
purchasing him [from captivity or the like]—فِدَآءٌ
This is Mbr's explanation, taking the word as maṣdar of فَدَاهُ.
preserving a man from misfortune by what one gives as compensation for him—فَدًى
I purchased, that is, ransomed, him with my property—فَدَيْتُهُ بِمَالِى
I ransomed him with myself—بِنَفْسِى
I ransomed the captive—فَادَيْتُ الأَسِيرَ
I ransomed him, figuratively, with my father and my mother—فَدَيْتُهُ بِأَبِى وَ أُمِى
I ransomed him with property—بِمَالٍ
I freed the captive from the state he was in—فَدَيْتُ الأَسيرَ
This definition is Er-Rāghib's.
According to Nuseyr Er-Rázee, the Arabs use these phrases.
It is as though you purchased him and freed him with the property, when he was not a captive.
فَادَيْتُ is better in this sense.
you purchase them from the enemy and liberate them—تَفْدُوهُمْ
you contend with those in your hands about the price, and they contend with you—تُفَادُوهُمْ
This is a reading in the Kur 2:79, so explained by Aboo-Mo'ádh.
This is the other reading, explained by Aboo-Mo'ádh in this way.
[That افتداهُ is synonymous with فَدَاهُ is shown by what follows.]
on this sense A poet says: [And if a person dead were to be ransomed, I would certainly ransom him with what minds would not be willing to give up]
shāhidيُفْتَدَى لَفَدَيْتُهُ فَلَوْ كَانَ مَيتٌبِمَا لَمْ تَكُنْ عَنْهُ النُّفُوسُ تَطِيبُ
Qur’ān 2:84 approximate — somewhere between 2:78 and 2:90 Lane cites “Kur ii. 79”
Qur’ān 2:85 located by this root inside the range Lane’s citation allows
ثُمَّ أَنتُمْ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ تَقْتُلُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَتُخْرِجُونَ فَرِيقًا مِّنكُم مِّن دِيَـٰرِهِمْ تَظَـٰهَرُونَ عَلَيْهِم بِٱلْإِثْمِ وَٱلْعُدْوَٰنِ وَإِن يَأْتُوكُمْ أُسَـٰرَىٰ تُفَـٰدُوهُمْ وَهُوَ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَيْكُمْ إِخْرَاجُهُمْ ۚ أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبَعْضِ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبَعْضٍ ۚ فَمَا جَزَآءُ مَن يَفْعَلُ ذَٰلِكَ مِنكُمْ إِلَّا خِزْىٌ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَيَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰٓ أَشَدِّ ٱلْعَذَابِ ۗ وَمَا ٱللَّهُ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَAfter this it is ye, the same people, who slay among yourselves, and banish a party of you from their homes; assist (Their enemies) against them, in guilt and rancour; and if they come to you as captives, ye ransom them, though it was not lawful for you to banish them. Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest? but what is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life?- and on the Day of Judgment they shall be consigned to the most grievous penalty. For Allah is not unmindful of what ye do.Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.1.1may you be ransomed—فَدًى لَكَ
The maṣdars of the first of these verbs are much used in phrases of prayer.
[This stands for فَدَاكَ فَدًى, and so virtually means فُدِيتَ; the ل being لِلتَّبْيِينِ, i. e. “for the purpose of notifying” the person addressed.]
may my father ransom you with himself, that is, may my father be a ransom for you—بِى أَ فَدًى لَكَ
[This stands for فَدَاكَ أَبِى بِنَفْسِهِ فَدًى, and so virtually means simply فَدَاكَ أَبِى بِنَفْسِهِ.]
فِدَآء has tenween, and some of the Arabs pronounce it with kesr [to the ء, i. e. they pronounce فِدَآء with the tenween of kesr], especially when it comes immediately before the preposition ل, saying فِدَآءٍ لَكَ, because it is indeterminate; they intend by this the meaning of a prayer.
As has cited as an example of this the saying of En-Nábighah [Edh-Dhubyánee]: [Act gently: may the peoples, all of them, and what I make abundant of wealth and of offspring, give themselves as a ransom for you]
shāhidمَهْلًا فِدَآءٍ لَكَ الأَقْوَامُ كُلُّهُمُوَمَا أُثَمِرُ مِنْ مَالٍ وَمِنْ وَلَدِ
فِدَآءٍ is apparently assimilated to an indeterminate imperative verbal noun such as صَهٍ in the phrase صَهٍ يَا رَجُلُ, which is as though one said اُسْكُتْ سُكُوتًا يَا رَجُلُ, so that the meaning here is لِيَفْدِكَ.
De Sacy, in his “Chrest. Arabe,” second edition, vol. 2, p. 460, mentions three allowable readings (not the one above) in this verse, namely فدآءٌ, فدآءً and فدآءٍ, and adds that a commentator says the following is, of several explanations, the right one: والقول الآخر وهو الصحيح ان فدآءِ بمعنى ليُفدِكَ فبناه كما بنى الامر وكذلك تَراكِ و دَراكِ لانه بمعنى اترك و ادرك.
This is similar to the explanation I have offered of فِدَآءٍ لك, for ليُفدِك is apparently a typographical mistake for ليَفدِك.
I incline to think that فدآءِ, though supposed to be correct and therefore likened to تَراكِ and دَراكِ, is a copyist's mistake for فدآءٍ, and the more so because in Ahlwardt's “Divans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets” I find the three readings فِداءٌ, فِداءً and فِداءٍ, but not فِداءِ.
1.1.2and we made an animal prepared for sacrifice a ransom for him, and freed him from slaughter—وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ
In the Kur 37:107.
Qur’ān 37:107 matched to Lane’s own quotation of it Lane cites “Kur xxxvii. 107”
Qur’ān 37:107 Lane quotes this verse
وَفَدَيْنَـٰهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍAnd We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (1934)
1.1.3she gave property to her husband so that she became free from him by divorce—فَدَتْ نَفْسَهَا مِنْ زَوْجِهَا
افتدت alone has the same meaning.
1.1.4
See also what follows next.
Qur’ānic occurrences Form 1
37:107
وَفَدَيْنَـٰهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍAnd We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:
Occurrences of this form in the Qur’ān, not Lane’s choice of verse. They show the word in use; they do not say which sense above applies. Where more occur than are shown, the shortest āyāt are chosen.
Show Lane's original text
, (T, S, M, &c.,) aor. يَفْدِيهِ , (Msb, K,) inf. n. فِدَآءٌ (T, S, M, Mgh, K,) [omitted in my copy of the Msb, probably by inadvertence,]) and فَدًى , (Mgh,) or فِدًى , (so in the M, accord. to the TT,) or also both of these, (Fr, T, S, Msb, K,) the latter of them said by Fr, on one occasion, to be the more common, (T, TA,) [which is the case when it is a subst., like فِدْيَةٌ ,] but 'Alee Ibn-Suleymán El-Akhfash [i. e. El-Akhfash El-Asghar] is related to have said that this is not allowable except by poetic license, and El-Kálee says that الفِدَى was used by the Arabs in conjunction with الحِمَى , [see حِمَآءُ , in art. حمى ,] but other forms were used in other cases [among which he seems to mention فَدَآء , with fet-h and the lengthened alif, but the words in which I find this expressed are somewhat ambiguous, and are also rendered doubtful by an erasure and an alteration]; (TA;) and افتداهُ , (M,) [whence an ex. in a verse which will be found in what follows,] or افتدى بِهِ (K, TA) and مِنْهُ , (TA,) [but I do not know افتدى in either of these phrases as having any other than the well-known meaning of فَدَى نَفْسَهُ , which is strangely omitted in the K;] and know فادِاهُ , (S, Mgh, Msb, K, TA,) inf. n. مُفَادَاةٌ and فِدَآءٌ ; (Msb, TA;) but some explain this differently [as will be shown in what follows]; (T, Mgh, Msb, TA;) He gave his ransom; (S;) he gave a thing, (K, TA, [ اَعْطاهُ in the CK being a mistake for أَعْطَى , without the affixed pronoun,]) or a captive, for him, (TA,) and so liberated him; (K, TA;) [i. e. he ransomed him;] or he liberated him, or ransomed him, مِنَ الأَسْرِ [from captivity]: (Mgh, Msb:) or فاداهُ signifies he loosed him, or set him free, and took his ransom: (Mgh, Msb, TA:) or مُفَادَاةٌ signifies the giving a man and taking a man [in exchange]: and فِدَآءٌ , [as inf. n. of فَدَاهُ ,] the purchasing him [from captivity or the like]: (Mbr, T, Mgh, Msb, TA:) or the preserving a man from misfortune by what one gives by way of compensation for him; as also فَدًى : (Er-Rághib, TA:) you say, فَدَيْتُهُ بِمَالِى I purchased [i. e. ransomed] him with my property, and بِنَفْسِى with myself: (T:) or, accord. to Nuseyr Er-Rázee, the Arabs say, فَادَيْتُ الأَسِيرَ [I ransomed the captive], and فَدَيْتُهُ بِأَبِى وَ أُمِى [I ransomed him in a tropical sense with my father and my mother], and بِمَالٍ [with property], as though thou purchasedst him and freedst him therewith, when he was not a captive; and you may say, فَدَيْتُ الأَسيرَ meaning I freed the captive from the state in which he was, though فَادَيْتُ is better in this sense: as to the reading تَفْدُوهُمْ [in the Kur ii. 79], Aboo-Mo'ádh says, it means Ye purchase them from the enemy and liberate them; but the reading تُفَادُوهُمْ , he says, means ye contend with them who are in your hands respecting the price and they so contend with you: (T, TA:) [that افتداهُ is syn. with فَدَاهُ is shown by what here follows:] a poet says, 1 [And if a person dead were to be ransomed, assuredly I would ransom him with what minds would not be willing to relinquish]. (M, TA.) يُفْتَدَى لَفَدَيْتُهُ فَلَوْ كَانَ مَيتٌ | بِمَا لَمْ تَكُنْ عَنْهُ النُّفُوسُ تَطِيبُ [The inf. ns. of the first of these verbs are much used in precative phrases:] they said, فَدًى لَكَ [for فَدَاكَ فَدًى , and therefore virtually meaning فُدِيتَ Mayest thou be ransomed; the ل being لِلتَّبْيِينِ i. e. “ for the purpose of notifying ” the person addressed]: (TA:) and بِى أَ فَدًى لَكَ [for فَدَاكَ أَبِى بِنَفْسِهِ فَدًى , and therefore virtually meaning simply فَدَاكَ أَبِى بِنَفْسِهِ May my father ransom thee with himself; so that it may be well rendered may my father be a ransom for thee]: (S:) and فِدَآء , with tenween, some of the Arabs pronounce with kesr [to the ء , i. e. they pronounce فِدَآء with the tenween of kesr], peculiarly when it is next to [meaning immediately followed by] the preposition ل , saying فِدَآءٍ لَكَ , because it is indeterminate; they intending thereby the meaning of a prayer; and As has cited [as an ex. thereof] the saying of En-Nábighah [Edh-Dhubyánee], 1 [Act gently: may the peoples, all of them, and what I make to be abundant of wealth and of offspring, give themselves as a ransom, or be a ransom, for thee: فِدَآءٍ being app. assimilated to an indeterminate imperative verbal noun such as صَهٍ in the phrase صَهٍ يَا رَجُلُ , which is as though one said اُسْكُتْ سُكُوتًا يَا رَجُلُ ; thus meaning here لِيَفْدِكَ : but De Sacy mentions, in his “ Chrest. Arabe, ” see. ed., vol. ii., p. 460, three allowable readings (not the foregoing reading) in this verse, namely, فدآءٌ and فدآءً and فدآءٍ ; and adds that what here follows is said by a commentator to be, of several explanations, that which is the right: والقول الآخر وهو الصحيح ان فدآءِ بمعنى ليُفدِكَ فبناه كما بنى الامر وكذلك تَراكِ و دَراكِ لانه بمعنى اترك و ادرك : this, it will be observed, is similar to the explanation which I have offered of فِدَآءٍ لك ; for ليُفدِك is app. a typographical mistake for ليَفدِك : and I incline to think that فدآءِ , though supposed to be correct and therefore likened to تَراكِ and دَراكِ , is a mistake of a copyist for فدآءٍ ; and the more so because I find in Ahlwardt's “ Divans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets ” the three readings فِداءٌ and فِداءً and فِداءٍ , but not فِداءِ ]. (S, TA.) مَهْلًا فِدَآءٍ لَكَ الأَقْوَامُ كُلُّهُمُ | وَمَا أُثَمِرُ مِنْ مَالٍ وَمِنْ وَلَدِ وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ [in the Kur xxxvii. 107] means And we made an animal prepared for sacrifice to be a ransom for him, and freed him from slaughter. (T, TA.) فَدَتْ نَفْسَهَا مِنْ زَوْجِهَا and افتدت [alone] mean She gave property to her husband so that she became free from him by divorce. (Msb, TA.) See also what next follows.