ودى
Attested forms : بِٱلْوَادِ 3 · دِيَةٌۭ 2 · ادِيًا 1 · أَوْدِيَةٌۢ 1 · بِوَادٍ 1 · ادٍۢ 1 · ادِ 1 · ٱلْوَادِ 1
Core meaning
The elongated hollow between heights, through which water passes; the same root names the compensation delivered for a lost life.
Uses
وَاد, أَوْدِيَة → "valley", "valleys" : the hollow that water takes, that one crosses or holds.
دِيَة → "a compensation" : what is delivered to the family of a believer killed by mistake.
- «وَدِيَةٌۭ مُّسَلَّمَةٌ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِۦٓ» — "as well as a compensation delivered to his family" (4:92)
Evidence from the text
The valley is the hollow where water runs down: in 13:17, the water from the sky makes the valleys spill forth "according to their measure". It is crossed or held (9:121), dwelt in (14:37), the place of a call (20:12, the sanctified valley of Tuwa); the cloud "approaching their valleys" announces the awaited rain (46:24). The image also serves for wandering: the poets "ramble in every valley" (26:225), settling nowhere.
In 4:92, دِيَة is the compensation delivered to the family of one killed by mistake, joined to the freeing of a believing person. The text gives it as a due to be delivered, without itself tying it to the image of the valley.