Qualities of the Letters — the Ṣifāt

Paired and single qualities: how a letter comes out, once we know where

Core idea

The makhraj tells you where a letter is made; its ṣifāt tell you how — whether breath flows with it or is held, whether the sound runs on or stops, whether the tongue rises or stays low. Qualities are what tell apart two letters that share one makhraj.

Why it matters

Ṭāʾ and tāʾ share one makhraj; only their qualities differ: ṭāʾ is voiced, raised and closed, tāʾ is breathy, low and open. Read al-ṣirāṭ with a plain tāʾ, or tāba with a ṭāʾ, and the letter has changed even though the makhraj was right. Qualities are also where later rules come from: qalqalah, heavy and light letters, ghunnah.

Lesson

What is a ṣifa? Literally, a quality something carries. In tajwīd it is the manner in which a letter comes out of its makhraj: whether breath flows or is held, whether the sound runs on or stops, whether the tongue rises or stays low, and so on.

Why they matter: they tell apart letters that share a makhraj, they show which letters are strong and which weak, and they make every letter clearer.

There are seventeen, as counted in al-Muqaddima al-Jazariyya, in two kinds. Opposed qualities come in five pairs — hams/jahr, shidda/tawassuṭ/rakhāwa, istiʿlāʾ/istifāl, iṭbāq/infitāḥ, idhlāq/iṣmāt — and every letter takes exactly one side of each pair: five qualities no letter is without. Single qualities are seven — ṣafīr, qalqalah, līn, inḥirāf, takrīr, tafashshī, istiṭāla — each held by a few letters only.

Occasional qualities appear only in some positions: heavy or light, clear or merged, lengthened or short. Those are the next lessons.

How to remember them: each set of letters is packed into a short phrase — faḥaththahu shakhṣun sakat for the breathy letters, ajid qaṭin bakat for the strong ones. Any letter not in a set belongs to its opposite.

In detail, with examples

الهمس / الجهر	الشدّة / التوسّط (البينيّة) / الرخاوة	الاستعلاء / الاستفال	الإطباق / الانفتاح	الإذلاق / الإصمات	صفات أخرى
الجهر	الشدّة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الجهر	الشدّة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإذلاق	القلقلة
الهمس	الشدّة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الهمس	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الجهر	الشدّة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات	القلقلة
الهمس	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الهمس	الرخاوة	الاستعلاء	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الجهر	الشدّة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات	القلقلة
الجهر	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الجهر	التوسّط (البينيّة)	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإذلاق	الانحراف، التكرير
الجهر	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات	الصفير
الهمس	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات	الصفير
الهمس	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات	التفشّي
الهمس	الرخاوة	الاستعلاء	الإطباق	الإصمات	الصفير
الجهر	الرخاوة	الاستعلاء	الإطباق	الإصمات	الاستطالة
الجهر	الشدّة	الاستعلاء	الإطباق	الإصمات	القلقلة
الجهر	الرخاوة	الاستعلاء	الإطباق	الإصمات
الجهر	التوسّط (البينيّة)	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الجهر	الرخاوة	الاستعلاء	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الهمس	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإذلاق
الجهر	الشدّة	الاستعلاء	الانفتاح	الإصمات	القلقلة
الهمس	الشدّة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الجهر	التوسّط (البينيّة)	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإذلاق	الانحراف
الجهر	التوسّط (البينيّة)	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإذلاق
الجهر	التوسّط (البينيّة)	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإذلاق
الهمس	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات
الجهر	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات	اللين
الجهر	الرخاوة	الاستفال	الانفتاح	الإصمات	اللين

Every letter takes one quality from each of the five opposed pairs, and some add one or two single qualities. Tap a letter for its details.

1. Hams and jahr — does breath flow?

Does breath escape with the letter, or is it held back?

ف ح ث هـ ش خ ص س ك تHams — breathy
Breath flows out as the letter is said, because it presses lightly on its makhraj. Ten letters: faḥaththahu shakhṣun sakat.
Al-Fātiḥah 1:5
نَسْتَعِينُ
Sīn and tāʾ are breathy: hear the breath run with them.
ء ب ج د ذ ر ز ض ط ظ ع غ ق ل م ن و يJahr — voiced
Breath is held back, because the letter presses firmly on its makhraj. The remaining eighteen letters.
Al-Fātiḥah 1:7
ٱلْمَغْضُوبِ
Ghayn and ḍād are voiced.

2. Shidda, tawassuṭ, rakhāwa — does the sound run?

Is the sound cut off, does it run on, or something between?

ء ج د ق ط ب ك تShidda — strong
The sound stops completely on the letter with sukūn. Eight letters: ajid qaṭin bakat.
Al-ʿAlaq 96:1
ٱقْرَأْ
The qāf with sukūn: the sound is cut off completely.
ل ن ع م رTawassuṭ — in between
The sound neither stops nor runs freely. Five letters: lin ʿumar.
Al-Ikhlāṣ 112:3
لَمْ
The mīm with sukūn: the sound runs a little, then stops.
ث ح خ ذ ز س ش ص ض ظ غ ف هـ و يRakhāwa — soft
The sound runs on with the letter. The remaining fifteen letters.
ʿAbasa 80:9
يَخْشَىٰ
The khāʾ with sukūn: its sound can be drawn out.

3. Istiʿlāʾ and istifāl — does the tongue rise?

Raised letters are always heavy — which is why the mushaf paints them in the tafkhīm colour.

خ ص ض غ ط ق ظIstiʿlāʾ — raised
The back of the tongue rises towards the palate, so the letter fills the mouth. Seven letters: khuṣṣa ḍaghṭin qiẓ.
Al-Fātiḥah 1:6
ٱلصِّرَٰطَ
Ṣād and ṭāʾ are raised and heavy.
ء ب ت ث ج ح د ذ ر ز س ش ع ف ك ل م ن هـ و يIstifāl — lowered
The tongue stays low. The remaining twenty-one letters; they are light, except rāʾ and the lām of Allah in cases taught later.

4. Iṭbāq and infitāḥ — is the tongue pressed flat?

Iṭbāq is a stronger istiʿlāʾ: every closed letter is raised, not every raised letter is closed.

ص ض ط ظIṭbāq — closed
The tongue presses flat against the palate and the sound is trapped between them. Four letters.
Al-Fātiḥah 1:7
ٱلضَّآلِّينَ
Ḍād is closed: compare its fullness with a dāl.
ء ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن هـ و يInfitāḥ — open
The tongue stays apart from the palate so the sound comes out. The other twenty-four letters.

5. Idhlāq and iṣmāt — fluent or held

A quality about how Arabic words are built more than about pronunciation.

ف ر م ن ل بIdhlāq — fluent
Light, quick letters made at the tip of the tongue or the lips. Six letters: firra min lubb.
ء ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ق ك هـ و يIṣmāt — held
Heavier letters: no original four- or five-letter Arabic root is built from them alone. The other twenty-two letters.

The seven single qualities

Qualities only a few letters have.

ص س زṢafīr — whistle
An extra whistling sound between the tongue tip and the front teeth.
Al-Nās 114:1
ٱلنَّاسِ
The sīn at the verse end: its whistle is clear on the pause.
ق ط ب ج دQalqalah — echo
The makhraj bounces when the letter has a sukūn, so a small echo is heard. Five letters: quṭbu jadd. Lighter mid-word, stronger at a pause. The app's mushaf paints it blue.
Al-Ikhlāṣ 112:3
يَلِدْ
The dāl's echo in yalid.
Al-Falaq 113:1
ٱلْفَلَقِ
A strong echo on the qāf when you pause.
و يLīn — softness
Wāw and yāʾ with sukūn after a fatḥa come out softly, without effort.
Quraysh 106:4
خَوْفٍۭ
A soft wāw in khawf.
Quraysh 106:3
ٱلْبَيْتِ
A soft yāʾ in al-bayt.
ل رInḥirāf — deviation
After leaving its makhraj the letter leans towards another: lām to the tongue's edges, rāʾ to its back.
Al-Ikhlāṣ 112:1
قُلْ
رTakrīr — repetition
The rāʾ can trill because the tongue tip vibrates. It is learned in order to AVOID it: never roll the rāʾ, especially a doubled one.
Al-Kawthar 108:2
وَٱنْحَرْ
A rāʾ with sukūn at the verse end: a single tap.
شTafashshī — spreading
Air spreads through the mouth on the shīn.
Al-Sharḥ 94:1
نَشْرَحْ
ضIstiṭāla — lengthening
The ḍād's sound stretches along the whole side of the tongue.
Al-Fātiḥah 1:7
ٱلضَّآلِّينَ

In your mushaf

In the app's mushaf, a qalqalah letter with sukūn is painted light blue, and raised letters and heavy rāʾ dark blue. Those two colours are the two qualities of this lesson: qalqalah, and istiʿlāʾ which makes a letter heavy. Change them in Settings and the lesson follows.

Key points

1
The makhraj is where a letter is made; its ṣifa is how.
2
Seventeen qualities: ten in five opposed pairs (with tawassuṭ in between), and seven single ones.
3
Every letter has five qualities from the pairs; a letter not listed for a quality has its opposite.
4
The seven raised letters khuṣṣa ḍaghṭin qiẓ are always heavy; the strongest are the closed ones: ṣ ḍ ṭ ẓ.
5
Qalqalah is on quṭbu jadd when they carry a sukūn, and grows stronger at a pause.
6
Takrīr is learned to be avoided: the rāʾ is one tap.

Glossary

صِفَة

ṣifa (pl. ṣifāt)

the manner in which a letter leaves its makhraj

الهَمْس

al-hams

breath flowing with the letter

الاسْتِعْلاء

al-istiʿlāʾ

the back of the tongue rising to the palate

الإطْباق

al-iṭbāq

the tongue pressed flat against the palate

القَلْقَلَة

al-qalqalah

the echo of q ṭ b j d when they carry a sukūn

التَّفْخِيم

al-tafkhīm

making a letter heavy so it fills the mouth

Test yourself

Question 1 of 8

How many letter qualities does al-Muqaddima al-Jazariyya count?

Sources

صِفَاتُهَا جَهْرٌ وَرِخْوٌ مُسْتَفِلْ ... مُنْفَتِحٌ مُصْمَتَةٌ وَالضِّدَّ قُلْ

“Its qualities: voiced, soft, lowered, open, held — and say the opposites.”

Ibn al-Jazarī (d. 833 AH), al-Muqaddima al-Jazariyya, chapter on the ṣifāt

مَهْمُوسُهَا «فَحَثَّهُ شَخْصٌ سَكَتْ» ... شَدِيدُهَا لَفْظُ «أَجِدْ قَطٍ بَكَتْ»

“Its breathy letters: faḥaththahu shakhṣun sakat; its strong ones are the words ajid qaṭin bakat.”

Ibn al-Jazarī, al-Muqaddima al-Jazariyya, chapter on the ṣifāt

Prepared from

This lesson was written in our own words from the material below; no text or image from it is reproduced.

«خلاصة صفات الحروف» — two-page tree of the qualities: split into opposed and single qualities; rebuilt in our own layout
«مخارج وصفات الحروف من الجزرية» — text of the classical poem: the verses quoted under Sources
«مخارج الحروف وصفاتها» — table of the 28 letters: cross-check only — it wrongly lists ʿayn as raised (it is lowered), so it was not relied on
«صور صفات الحروف» — illustrated plates from a printed book: understanding the qualities; no image reused
«تشجيرات أحكام التجويد» — booklet of tree diagrams: the istiʿlāʾ/istifāl tree

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