Heavy and light letters

In level 1 you met the "heavy" letters. Let us look at them more closely.

Tafkhim (تَفْخِيم): making the sound full, with the back of the tongue raised and the mouth rounder. Tarqiq (تَرْقِيق): making the sound light.

1. The seven letters that are always heavy: خ ص ض غ ط ق ظ, gathered in خُصَّ ضَغْطٍ قِظْ. They stay heavy whatever their vowel, a little more with fatha, a little less with kasra. Among them, ص ض ط ظ are the heaviest.

2. The letters that change. • Ra (ر). As a general rule, it is heavy with fatha or damma: رَبِّ (114:1), الرَّحْمَٰنِ (1:3). It is light with kasra: رِجَالٌ. When it carries a sukun, it usually follows the vowel before it: light after a kasra (فِرْعَوْنَ), heavy after a fatha or damma (مَرْيَمَ, الْقُرْآنُ). There are special cases your teacher will show you. • The lam of Allah's name. It is heavy after a fatha or damma: قَالَ اللَّهُ, عَبْدُ اللَّهِ. It is light after a kasra: بِسْمِ اللَّهِ (1:1). You saw this in level 1. Every other lam stays light. • Alif (ا) has no sound of its own: it follows the letter before it. After a heavy letter, it is heavy: قَالَ, طَاعَة. After a light letter, it is light: كَانَ, مَالِكِ.

Common mistakes: • Making a light letter heavy: saying ك like ق, or س like ص. • Making a heavy letter light: saying ط like ت. These mistakes change the meaning: قَلْب (the heart) is not كَلْب (the dog).

Exercise: recite Al-Fatiha and note, for each ر and each lam of Allah's name, whether it is heavy or light.

Understanding the lesson: heavy and light letters

1. Explanation Why are some letters heavy? For the seven letters of خُصَّ ضَغْطٍ قِظْ, the back of the tongue rises towards the palate (isti'laa'): the mouth fills and the sound becomes full. For four of them, ص ض ط ظ, the tongue also spreads against the palate (iṭbaaq): these are the heaviest. The other letters keep the tongue low: they are light. Ra and the lam of Allah's name have no fixed weight: they take it from the vowel that carries them or comes before them. Alif has no sound of its own and follows the letter before it. Common mistakes (in addition to those in the lesson): • Rounding the lips to "sound heavy": this gives an "o" sound. Heaviness comes from the tongue, not the lips. [À VÉRIFIER : à harmoniser avec la leçon, qui parle de « bouche plus ronde »] • Letting the heaviness spill over onto the next, light letter (for example the ل of قَالَ). • Making the alif heavy after a light letter, as in بِسْمِ اللَّهِ or مَالِكِ.

2. Lessons to learn • The Qur'an is meant to be understood and reflected on: Allah speaks of "a blessed Book We have sent down, so that they may reflect on its verses" (meaning of verse 38:29). Confusing قَلْب and كَلْب means losing the meaning. • Work in pairs: س / ص, ت / ط, ذ / ظ, د / ض, ك / ق, ه / ح. Say each pair slowly, several times. • In prayer, pay attention to the ra and the name of Allah in Al-Fatiha: it is the surah you recite most.

3. To remember • Seven letters always heavy: خُصَّ ضَغْطٍ قِظْ; the heaviest: ص ض ط ظ. • Ra: heavy with fatha or damma, light with kasra; with sukun, it usually follows the vowel before it. • Lam of Allah: heavy after fatha or damma, light after kasra. Alif: follows the letter before it.

4. The message of the lesson The weight of letters carries the meaning of words: taking care of pronunciation protects the meaning of the Qur'an and gives us the means to reflect on it.

Source: rules according to the reading of Hafs from 'Asim (ash-Shatibiyya chain), as set out in standard tajwid manuals; the meaning of the verses from Al-Mukhtasar fi tafsir al-Qur'an.