Written by Noorislam Uddin (MArch)
فَلَا يَحْزُنكَ قَوْلُهُمْ ۘ إِنَّا نَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ
[Quran 36:76…]
Falá yaḥzuńka qouluhum. Ìnná na’lamu má yusirrúna wamá yu’linúna
Sometimes in English, we feel too exhausted to say our words fully. If you work in an office, trying switching out ‘admin‘, ‘decaf‘, ‘app‘, and ‘doc‘, for ‘administration‘, ‘decaffeinated‘, ‘application‘, and ‘document‘ and watch how much productivity is lost. But the way to stop in Arabic speech is really quite the time-saver, and furthermore, for those of us with smaller lungs, there are provisions in place in Quranic recitation to break up many verses using individual stopping points.
One essential principle to grasp before delving into what these various stop signs are, is the ‘temporary’ sukūn pause. Generally in Arabic, when one takes a breath at the end of a sentence, or even pauses at a word, a momentary sukun pause is imagined on the last full-form letter – thus omitting any vowels and even tanwīn ‘nunation’ following it. For example, in [ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ ] ‘ÍṇnaAlllöha samī’uņ baṣīrun‘, the stop at the word ‘baṣīrun‘ means curtailing it from the ‘r‘ – ignoring the short ‘u‘ vowel and ‘n‘ nunation after it. The transliteration method used in this book uses superscript formatting to represent letters that are silent under certain conditions such as this. The stopping rule extends to words ending in long vowels, which should still be pronounced long accordingly, like in for example, [ لِنُرِيَكَ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا الْكُبْرَى ] ‘Linuriyaka min ǎyätinā alkubroe‘ . There are other caveats to this rule of thumb to be aware of. Firstly, any silent letters should be ignored. By spelling convention, a silent [ ا ] Alif is written at the end of 3rd person plural verbs in Arabic. These can be skipped in all cases anyway, and a reciter stopping on such a word should recite it as if the sukūn pause is instead on the [ ـو ] Wāu before it. For example, [ ءَامَنُوا] ‘-āmanūa‘ and [ كَفَرُوا] ‘kafarūa‘. Secondly, the [ ً ] fatḥatain ‘nunated accusative marker’ at the end of nouns is usually also followed by a full-form [ ا ] Alif. However, this Alif is only read out when the reciter stops at the word – which is equivalent to saying the sukūn pause should be imagined on this last Alif – giving a long vowel sound. If the reciter continues past such a word, the ‘n‘ from the nunation should be recited instead. For example, in [ وَسَآءَ سَبِيلًا ] ‘wasã-a sabīlana‘, the last word is pronounced as ‘sabīlaa‘ – ending with a long ‘ā‘ sound – if the reciter stops at it, and ‘sabīlan‘ – ending with an ‘n‘ sound – if the reciter instead continues through it. It should also be noted that a reciter is free to stop outside of the designated stop signs during recitation (to take a breath). Though when starting again, the last word/s before the stopping place should be repeated to clarify any potential misinterpretation in meaning.
Referring strictly to the madaniyy Quranic writing script, there are 6 waqf stop signs explained below:
- [ ۘ ] Mandatory (M)
- [ ۗ ] Recommended (QLE)
- [ ۚ ] Optional (J)
- [ ۖ ] Discouraged (ṢLE)
- [ ۜ ] Quick (S)
- [ ۛ ۛ ] Selectable
7.a) [ ۘ ] Mandatory
Summary: This type of stop sign is written as a small superscript Mím. There are only a handful of such instances in the Quran. When it appears after a word, the reciter must momentarily stop (and take a breath), for continuing on so would alter the obvious meaning of the verse. If the reciter continues on from it without stoping, that portion of the recitation must be repeated.
E.g.
فَلَا يَحْزُنكَ قَوْلُهُمْ ۘ إِنَّا نَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ
[Quran 36:76…]
FaFalā yaḥzuṅka qouluhum. Íṇnā na’lamu mā yusirrūna wamā yu’linūna
7.b) [ ۗ ] Recommended
This type of stop sign is written as a small superscript Qōf and Lām, and stylised Álif Maqṣūroḧ. When it appears after a word, the reciter is encouraged to momentarily stop (and take a breath), for continuing on so could complicate the obvious understanding of the verse.
Notes:
• The end of the vast majority of Quranic verses themselves are also considered recommended stops
E.g.
إِذْ يَقُولُ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ غَرَّ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ دِينُهُمْ ۗ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌۭ
[Quran 8:49]
Ív yaqūlu almunäfiqūna waallavīna fie qulūbihiṃ ṃmaroḍun gorro hãúlã-i dīnuhum: Wamaṇ yatawakkal ‘alae Alllöhi faíṇna Alllöha ‘azīzun ḥakīmuṇ
7.c) [ ۚ ] Optional
Summary: This type of stop sign is written as a small superscript Jím. When it appears after a word, the reciter may momentarily stop (and take a breath).
E.g.
وَأَلْقِ عَصَاكَ ۚ فَلَمَّا رَءَاهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَأَنَّهَا جَآنٌّۭ وَلَّىٰ مُدْبِرًۭا وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ ۚ يَـٰمُوسَىٰ لَا تَخَفْ إِنِّى لَا يَخَافُ لَدَىَّ ٱلْمُرْسَلُونَ
[Quran 27:10]
Waálqi ‘aṣōka; Falaṃmā roǎhā tahtazzu kaáṇnahā jãṇnuṇ wallaë mudbiroṇa walam yu’aqqib; YäMūsaë lā tacof íṇnie lā yacōfu ladayya almursalūna
7.d) [ ۖ ] Discouraged
Summary: This type of sign is written as a small superscript Ṣōd and Lām, and stylised Álif Maqṣūroḧ. When it appears after a word, the reciter is encouraged to continue (without taking a breath), for stopping on so could complicate the obvious understanding of the verse.
E.g.
وَلِسُلَيْمَـٰنَ ٱلرِّيحَ غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌۭ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌۭ ۖ وَأَسَلْنَا لَهُۥ عَيْنَ ٱلْقِطْرِ ۖ وَمِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ مَن يَعْمَلُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِۦ ۖ وَمَن يَزِغْ مِنْهُمْ عَنْ أَمْرِنَا نُذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ
[Quran 34:12]
WaliSulaimäna alrrīḥa guduwwuhā ṡahruṇ warowāḥuhā ṡahruṇ, waásalnā lahü ‘aina alqiṭri, wamina aljiṇni maṇ ya’malu baina yadaihï biívni Robbihï, wamaṇ yazig minhum ‘an ámrinā nuviqhu min ‘avābi alsSa’īri
7.e) [ ۜ ] Quick
Priority: Recommended
Summary: This type of stop sign is written as a small superscript Sīn. It is also referred to as a sakt/aḧ. There are only a handful of such instances in the Quran. When it appears after a word, the reciter is encouraged to momentarily stop, (without taking a breath), for continuing on so could lose the rhetoric effect of the verse.
E.g.
وَقِيلَ مَنْ ۜ رَاقٍۢ
[Quran 75:27]
Waqīla man … rōqiṇ
7.g) [ ۛ ۛ ] Selectable
Priority: Optional
Summary: This type of stop sign is written as a small superscript mathematical ‘therefore’ sign. There are only a handful of such instances in the Quran. They always appear in pairs. When they appear around a set of words, the reciter may momentarily stop (and take a breath) at either one of the two places – but not both.
E.g.
قَالَ فَإِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَيْهِمْ ۛ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةًۭ ۛ يَتِيهُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْفَـٰسِقِينَ
[Quran 5:26]
Qōla faíṇnahā muḥarromaẗun ‘alaihim – árba’īna sanaẗaṇ – yatīhūna fie alárḍi; Falā tàsa ‘alae alqoumi alfäsiqīna
Allah knows best.
Last updated:
Further tajwíd enhancement study:
- Arabic 101 [Last Updated November 10, 2023], The BEST 30-day Tajweed Program (Intermediate). https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6TlMIZ5ylgoA27YCmZYMCQCX7EUkfyHp.
- Tajweed.me [February 13, 2013], Tajweed Me All for Quran and Tajweed. https://tajweed.me/tag/tajweed-rules.
- Getquranic.com [November 1, 2021], A Quick Guide to Tajweed. https://www.getquranic.com/a-quick-guide-to-tajweed/#Ikhfaa_to_hide.
Jazak-Allah for reading. All knowledge, opinions, and translations expressed in our articles are the earnest study and reflections of the writer, prioritising honest interpretations of the Quran and authentic Hadith as evidence. We ask for forgiveness for presenting any information that comes to be incorrect or misleading, and accept that Allah is the Most-Knowing One.