يَقُوْلُ رَاجِيْ رَحْمَةِ رَبٍّ سَامِعِ
✦
مُحَمَّدٌ الجَزَرِيُّ ثُمَّ الشَّافِعِيْ
"Says the one hoping for the mercy of a Hearing Lord — Muhammad al-Jazari, a Shafi'i scholar."
وَالأَخْذُ بِالتَّجْوِيدِ حَتْمٌ لَازِمُ
✦
مَنْ لَمْ يُجَوِّدِ القُرْآنَ آثِمُ
"And applying Tajweed is an obligatory duty — whoever does not recite the Quran with Tajweed is sinful."
Scholarly Note
This verse refers to gross neglect of Tajweed rules — abandoning its principles entirely. Minor imprecision in a student's recitation does not reach the level of sin, as the scholars explain. The verse motivates diligent study, not despair.
لأَنَّهُ بِهِ الإِلَهُ أَنزَلَا
✦
وَهَكَذَا مِنْهُ إِلَيْنَا وَصَلَا
"Because with it God revealed it, and thus it has reached us from Him."
The 17 articulation points (makhaarij) are distributed across 5 main regions of the vocal tract. Every Arabic letter has a precise point from which its sound originates.
1 makhraj — sound originates from the empty space of the mouth and throat
The Madd letters in their extended state. Sound travels through and is shaped by the empty space — the mouth cavity and throat. These are the foundation of the three long vowels.
فَأَلِفُ الجَوْفِ وَأُخْتَاهَا وَهِيْ
✦
حُرُوفُ مَدٍّ لِلْهَوَاءِ مُنْتَهِيْ
"The Alif of the Jawf and its two sisters — they are the Madd letters, their sound ending in open air."
3 makhaarij — distributed along the depth of the throat
Hamza and Ha' — produced at the very bottom of the throat (aqsal halq). Hamza is a stop; Ha' is breathy.
'Ayn and Ha (unpointed) — from the mid-throat. 'Ayn is voiced; Ha is whispered (hams).
Ghayn and Kha — from the uppermost part of the throat, close to the back of the tongue. Both are velar/uvular sounds.
10 makhaarij — the tongue produces more sounds than any other region
Qa — back of tongue touching upper soft palate (uvular stop)
Ka — slightly more forward than Qa, velar stop
Jim, Shin, Ya — middle of tongue touching hard palate. These are palatal sounds.
Dad — the side edge of the tongue against the upper molars. The longest makhraj to produce.
Lam — tip and sides of tongue near upper gum ridge (lateral)
Nun — tip of tongue near upper gum, slightly forward of Lam (nasal)
Ra — tip rolled/tapped behind upper gum ridge (rhotic trill)
Ta (emphatic), Dal, Ta — tip of tongue pressing against the base of upper front teeth (dental/alveolar stops)
Tha, Dhal, Dha (emphatic) — tip of tongue between or touching the tips of upper front teeth (interdental)
Zayn, Sin, Sad (emphatic) — tip of tongue near but NOT touching upper front teeth; air passes through creating a hiss (sibilant)
2 makhaarij
Fa — upper front teeth pressing against the inner (wet) part of the lower lip. A labiodental fricative.
Ba, Meem, Waw — both lips together. Waw requires a rounder, more open lip position.
1 makhraj — all nasal sound (ghunnah) originates here exclusively
Noon and Meem when nasalised (in Idghaam, Ikhfaa, Iqlab, or with shaddah). The nasal cavity above the soft palate is the sole origin of ghunnah sound — it never comes from the mouth or throat.
Every letter has characteristics (sifaat) that describe how its sound is produced — beyond just where it comes from. There are two types: those that have an opposite (ذات الأضداد) and those that do not (التي لا ضد لها).
Pair 1
Voiced / جهر
الجهر
Jahr — the voice box vibrates; breath is held
19 letters total
Whispered / هَمْس
الهَمْس
Hams — breath escapes freely; voice box does not vibrate
فَحَثَّهُ شَخْصٌ سَكَتَ
Pair 2
Strong / شدة
الشدة
Sound stops completely at makhraj
أَجِدُ قَطٍ بَكَتْ
Between / التوسط
التوسط / البينية
Between complete stop and free flow
عُمَرَ بنَ لَيٍّ
Soft / الرخاوة
الرخاوة
Sound flows freely through makhraj
All remaining letters
Pair 3
Elevated / استعلاء
الاستعلاء
Tongue rises toward the palate — heavy/tafkheem letters
خُصَّ ضَغْطٍ قِظْ
Lowered / استفال
الاستفال
Tongue stays low — light/tarqeeq letters
Remaining 21 letters — these are recited lightly (tarqeeq)
Pair 4
Constriction / إطباق
الإطباق
Tongue presses toward palate — the 4 emphatic letters
These are the heaviest letters in Arabic
Openness / انفتاح
الانفتاح
Tongue stays away from palate
Remaining 24 letters — open pronunciation
Pair 5
Fluency / إذلاق
الإذلاق
Light, swift sounds — from tip of tongue or lips
فِرَّ مِنْ لُبٍّ
Obstruction / إصمات
الإصمات
Heavier letters requiring more effort
Remaining 22 letters — no pure Arabic root word uses only Ismat letters; roots always include at least one Idhlaq letter
These are additional qualities that some letters possess — they do not pair with an opposite characteristic.
الصفير
Safeer — Sibilance / Whistling
A whistling sound produced as air passes between tongue and teeth
القلقلة
Qalqala — Echo / Bounce
قُطُبُ جَدٍّ
A slight bounce/echo when these letters carry sukoon — prevents vowelless silence
اللِّيْن
Leen — Softness
Waw and Ya when preceded by a fath-ha and bearing sukoon — they flow out softly
الانحراف
Inhiraf — Deviation
The sound deviates/turns from the makhraj rather than flowing straight out
التكرار
Takraar — Repetition / Trill
Ra naturally produces a trill. This quality must be suppressed in recitation — do not over-roll the Ra.
التفشي
Tafashi — Spreading
The sound of Shin spreads widely across the palate as air is released
الاستطالة
Istitalah — Elongation
Dad's makhraj extends along the side of the tongue — the longest articulation point in Arabic
As in Tuhfat al-Atfal, Ibn al-Jazari covers the same four rules with his own verses. The Al-Jazariyyah formulation is often considered more concise and authoritative at the advanced level.
لِلنُّوْنِ وَالتَّنْوِيْنِ أَرْبَعُ أَحْكَامٍ
✦
إِظْهَارٌ ثُمَّ إِدْغَامٌ وَقِسْمَانِ
✦
إِخْفَاءٌ إِقْلَابٌ...
"For Noon and Tanwin there are four rules: Izhaar, then Idghaam with its two divisions, Ikhfaa, and Iqlab..."
For full detail on each rule with all examples, see the Tuhfat al-Atfal study page.
Examples
إِنَّ
ثُمَّ
مِمَّا
فَأَمَّا
إِنَّ اللَّهَ
Al-Jazariyyah also covers the three rules of Meem Sakinah (same rules as Tuhfat al-Atfal with Ibn al-Jazari's formulation):
Rule 1
الإخفاء الشفوي
Before: ب — lips nearly closed, ghunnah 2 counts
تَرْمِيهِم بِ
Rule 2
الإدغام الشفوي
Before: م — Meem merges with ghunnah 2 counts
لَكُمْ مَا
Rule 3
الإظهار الشفوي
Before all other letters — clear Meem, NO ghunnah
وَهُمْ فِيهَا