Qalqalah: the echo

Qalqalah (قَلْقَلَة) means "making something vibrate, shaking". Five letters, when they carry a sukun, are pronounced with a small bounce, like a light echo. Without this bounce, the letter would be almost silent.

The five qalqalah letters: ق ط ب ج د, gathered in the phrase قُطْبُ جَدٍّ (seen in level 1).

Two degrees: 1. The small qalqalah, in the middle of a word or passage, when the letter carries a written sukun: • الْأَبْتَرُ (108:3): the ب with sukun. • يَجْعَلُ: the ج with sukun. 2. The big qalqalah, when you stop on one of these letters at the end of a verse: the bounce is clearer. • الْفَلَقِ (113:1), وَقَبَ (113:3), حَسَدَ (113:5). • أَحَدٌ (112:1), الصَّمَدُ (112:2), مَسَدٍ (111:5). • لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ (112:3): two qalqalahs in the same verse. Some teachers add a third, even stronger degree, when the letter at the stop also carries a shadda, as in الْحَقّ. Your teacher will tell you whether he teaches it.

How to do it well: • The bounce is short: you should not hear a vowel ("fa-la-qe") but an echo with no vowel. • The sound of the bounce leans towards fatha, according to the most taught view; some teachers adjust it to the vowel before. Listen to your teacher.

Exercise: recite Surah Al-Ikhlas (112) and count the qalqalahs at the ends of the verses.

Understanding the lesson: qalqalah

1. Explanation Why do these five letters bounce? They combine two qualities: strength (shidda), the sound is blocked sharply, and voicing (jahr), no breath escapes. With a sukun, a blocked letter with no breath would become almost inaudible: the small bounce makes it heard. The other "strong" letters, such as ك or ت, let a breath escape and so do not need a bounce. Common mistakes (in addition to the added vowel): • Bouncing letters that have no qalqalah, such as ك or ت. • Bouncing when the letter carries a vowel: qalqalah only concerns the letter with sukun. • Forgetting the small qalqalah in the middle of words (يَجْعَلُ, الْأَبْتَرُ), and only doing it at a stop. • A bounce that is too long or too strong, which sounds like a hiccup. The number of degrees and the colour of the bounce vary between teachers, as the lesson says. [À VÉRIFIER : avis suivi au centre]

2. Lessons to learn • Allah says: "We have made the Qur'an easy to remember and reflect on" (meaning of verse 54:17): with practice, what seems hard becomes natural. • Recite Al-Ikhlas and Al-Falaq stopping at each verse: almost every verse ending is a qalqalah. • Listen to a recognised reciter and compare with your own recording.

3. To remember • Five letters: ق ط ب ج د (قُطْبُ جَدٍّ). • Only with a sukun: small in the middle, clearer at a stop. • A short echo, with no vowel.

4. The message of the lesson Qalqalah makes heard what might be lost: reciting with tajwid means letting no letter of the Qur'an fade away.

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.