حُرُوفُ الْمَدِّ

Salaam! In "My Arabic alphabet", you learned the three short vowels: fatḥa ـَ (a), kasra ـِ (i) and ḍamma ـُ (u). They make short sounds, quick as a wink.

Today, we learn to stretch the sounds! Three letters are "stretching letters" (ḥuruuf al-madd):

• ا after a fatḥa: the "a" sound becomes long, "aa". بَ ba → بَا baa • ي after a kasra: the "i" sound becomes long, "ii". بِ bi → بِي bii • و after a ḍamma: the "u" sound becomes long, "uu". بُ bu → بُو buu

The long sound lasts two beats: clap twice while saying "baaa". The short sound lasts one beat: a single clap for "ba".

Let's read words from your alphabet: زَرَافَة zaraafa, the giraffe 🦒 (the "aa" after the r) حِصَان ḥiṣaan, the horse 🐴 رِيشَة riisha, the feather 🪶 (the "ii") فِيل fiil, the elephant 🐘 لَيْمُون laymuun, the lemon 🍋 (the "uu") نُور nuur, light 💡 بَاب baab, the door 🚪 كِتَاب kitaab, the book 📖

Careful, a little trap: when و or ي have a sukun after a fatḥa, they do not make a long sound, but "aw" or "ay": مَوْز mawz, bananas 🍌 بَيْت bayt, the house 🏠

And a secret of the Qur'an: sometimes the long "aa" is written with a tiny alif above the letter, as in الرَّحْمَٰن ar-raḥmaan, the Most Merciful.

Little activity: with your parent, play the elastic game. They say "ba", you pull an imaginary elastic and say "baaa". Then "mi → miii", "nu → nuuu"!

Understanding the lesson

Explanation In Arabic, the length of a sound changes the meaning of the word. For example, "qaala" قَالَ means "he said", but if we read it too fast, we no longer say the same thing. That is why we pay close attention to long sounds. The three letters ا و ي are like friends who help the vowel before them last longer: ا helps the fatḥa, ي helps the kasra, و helps the ḍamma. In the Qur'an, we read taking our time. Allah says: "And recite the Qur'an slowly and clearly." (meaning of part of verse 73:4) Holding the long sounds properly is already the start of reading well.

Lessons to draw from it • I do not read too fast: I give each sound its length. • I clap twice for a long sound and once for a short sound. • I watch out for the sukun: with it, و and ي make "aw" and "ay".

Key points to remember • ـَا = aa (two beats); ـِي = ii; ـُو = uu. • The tiny alif above a letter (as in الرَّحْمَٰن) is also read "aa". • ـَوْ = aw; ـَيْ = ay (not long). • "Recite the Qur'an slowly" (73:4).

The main message With ا و ي, sounds get longer: I read them taking my time, so as to say each word properly.