Tajweed is the way the Qur’an is recited: which sounds are held, which go through the nose, which letters bounce, run together or are not said at all. Here every rule is a colour, and every colour is something your mouth does.
Five things your mouth does
Every rule belongs to one of five families. Learn the families first and the colours read themselves; the names of the rules can come later.
HoldLengthen the vowel
Natural lengtheningالمدّ الطبيعي
Hold the long vowel — no more, no less. 2 counts
A long vowel — alif, wāw or yāʾ after the short vowel that matches it — with no hamzah and no sukūn after it.
Lengthening at a stopالمدّ العارض للسكون
When you stop on this word, hold the long vowel for two, four or six counts, keeping to the same length all through a recitation. Read straight on, it is an ordinary two. 2, 4 or 6 counts
A long vowel, or a wāw or yāʾ with sukūn after a fatḥah, just before the last letter of a word you stop on.
Lengthening before a hamzahالمدّ الواجب المتّصل
Hold it for four or five counts. 4 or 5 counts
A long vowel followed by a hamzah in the same word.
Lengthening across two wordsالمدّ الجائز المنفصل
Hold it for four or five counts, as Ḥafṣ is read in this muṣḥaf. 4 or 5 counts
A long vowel at the end of one word, with a hamzah beginning the next.
Necessary lengtheningالمدّ اللازم
Hold it for a full six counts. 6 counts
A long vowel followed by a letter whose sukūn or shaddah belongs to the word — and in the names of some of the letters that open surahs.
NasalThrough the nose
Nasal soundالغنّة
Hold the sound in the nose. 2 counts
A nūn or a mīm with a shaddah.
Hiding the nūnالإخفاء
Don't sound the nūn fully: hide it in a nasal sound, with your mouth already shaped for the letter after it. 2 counts
A nūn with sukūn, or a tanwīn, before any of fifteen letters: ت ث ج د ذ ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ف ق ك.
Hiding the mīmالإخفاء الشفوي
Close the lips lightly on the mīm and hold a nasal sound, then say the bāʾ. 2 counts
A mīm with sukūn before a bāʾ.
Merging, with a nasal soundالإدغام بغنّة
Don't say the nūn: let it pass into the next letter, keeping its nasal sound. 2 counts
A nūn with sukūn, or a tanwīn, at the end of a word, before ي ن م و at the start of the next.
Merging the mīmالإدغام الشفوي
Say the two mīms as one doubled mīm, with a nasal sound. 2 counts
A mīm with sukūn before another mīm.
Turning the nūn into a mīmالإقلاب
Turn the nūn into a hidden mīm — lips lightly closed — with a nasal sound, then say the bāʾ. The small mīm written above it shows this. 2 counts
A nūn with sukūn, or a tanwīn, before a bāʾ.
BounceLet the letter bounce
Bounceالقلقلة
Let the letter bounce as it is released — a slight echo — and more strongly when you stop on it.
One of the five letters ق ط ب ج د with sukūn.
MergeInto the next letter
Merging, without a nasal soundالإدغام بغير غنّة
Don't say the nūn at all: go straight on into the next letter, said doubled, with no nasal sound.
A nūn with sukūn, or a tanwīn, at the end of a word, before ل or ر.
Merging kindred lettersإدغام المتجانسين
Don't sound the first letter on its own: it passes into the next, which is said doubled.
Two letters made at the same place in the mouth, the first with sukūn — as د before ت, ت before ط, or ث before ذ.
Merging neighbouring lettersإدغام المتقاربين
The first letter passes wholly into the next, which is said doubled.
Two letters made close together in the mouth, the first with sukūn — as ل before ر, or ق before ك.
SilentWritten, not said
Joining alifهمزة الوصل
Silent when you read on from the word before. Only when you begin with it is it said, with a short vowel.
The alif marked ٱ at the start of a word.
Silent lāmاللام الشمسية
Don't say the lām: go straight to the next letter, which carries a shaddah.
The lām of al- before one of the fourteen ‘sun’ letters.
Written, not saidحرف لا يُنطق
This letter belongs to the spelling and is not pronounced.
Letters kept only in the writing of the muṣḥaf — like the alif after the wāw of a plural verb, with a small circle above it.
What a count is
Lengths are measured in counts. A count is the length of a short vowel — about the time it takes to bend a finger, unhurried. Two counts is a natural long vowel; four or five, a long one; six, the longest. Count along here until the lengths sit in your ear.
Stopping
Small signs above the line say where you may stop. Where you stop, the end of the word changes.
ۘStop here
A required stop: stop here, for reading on could change the meaning.
ۗStopping is better
You may read on, but stopping is better.
ۚEither
Stopping and reading on are equally good.
ۖReading on is better
You may stop, but reading on is better.
ۙDo not stop here
Don't stop here. If you must, go back a little and read on through it.
ۛOne of the two
These come in a pair: stop at one of the two places, not at both.
ۜA brief pause
Pause for a moment without taking a breath, then read on.
When you stop on a word
Drop the last vowel: end the word on a sukūn.
The tanwīn falls away: end on a long ā, held for two counts.
The tāʾ marbūṭah is said as a hāʾ with sukūn: end on ‘-ah’.
Hold the long vowel before the last letter for two, four or six counts.
It ends on a long vowel: stop on it, held for two counts.
Keep the last letter doubled as you stop on it.
The last letter bounces — clearly, since it is the end.
Reading in colour
Turn the colours on and every surah, in the reader and the muṣḥaf, is coloured as you read. In the reader, tap a coloured letter to see its rule, count its length and hear the word; at the head of the surah, choose one family to see every place it comes.
The rules are those of Ḥafṣ from ʿĀṣim by way of al-Shāṭibiyyah — the reading of the Madīnah muṣḥaf — and their marking in the text is the Quran Foundation’s. The colours are those of the printed tajweed muṣḥafs. No colour stands in for a teacher: recite to someone who knows.