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Noor Quranنُورُ القُرْآن

Letters & hamzatul wasl

التَّفْخِيم وَالتَّرْقِيق

Tafkheem & tarqeeq (heavy and light letters)

Some letters are always heavy (خ ص ض غ ط ق ظ); ra and the lam of Allah are heavy after fatha or damma and light after kasra.

Definition

Tafkheem (“thickening”) fills the mouth with a deep, full sound; tarqeeq (“thinning”) keeps it light. Seven letters (خ ص ض غ ط ق ظ) are always heavy. The ra and the lam of the name Allah change: the lam of Allah is heavy after a fatha or damma (قَالَ ٱللَّهُ) and light after a kasra (بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ); a ra carrying a fatha or damma is heavy, a ra carrying a kasra is light. Further cases of a sakin ra depend on the letters around it and are best learned with a teacher.

Letters

  • خ
  • ص
  • ض
  • غ
  • ط
  • ق
  • ظ

The seven always-heavy letters, remembered as خُصَّ ضَغْطٍ قِظْ.

Tafkheem (heavy)

How to pronounce it

  1. 1

    Heavy: raise the back of the tongue toward the palate so the sound is full and round.

  2. 2

    Light: keep the tongue low and the sound thin and clear.

  3. 3

    Check the vowel before the lam of Allah, then decide: fatha or damma = heavy, kasra = light.

Examples from the Quran

Only the letters that follow this rule are coloured. Press play to hear the ayah, or open it for the full page.

Lam of Allah: heavy (after fatha or damma)

Lam of Allah: light (after kasra)

الفاتحةAl-Fatihah 1:1
Open ayah

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Tarqeeq (light)

In the name of Allāh, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

النجمAn-Najm 53:58
Open ayah

لَيْسَ لَهَا مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ كَاشِفَةٌ

Tarqeeq (light)

Of it, [from those] besides Allāh, there is no remover.

القيامةAl-Qiyamah 75:2
Open ayah

وَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِٱلنَّفْسِ ٱللَّوَّامَةِ

Tarqeeq (light)

And I swear by the reproaching soul [to the certainty of resurrection].

Ra: heavy (with fatha or damma)

Ra: light (with kasra)

الأعلىAl-A'la 87:6
Open ayah

سَنُقْرِئُكَ فَلَا تَنسَىٰٓ

Tarqeeq (light)

We will make you recite, [O Muḥammad], and you will not forget,

Common mistakes

  • Making the lam of Allah heavy after a kasra, or light after a fatha.
  • Thinning ق or ط to “k” or “t”.

Related rules

Frequently asked questions

What is Tafkheem & tarqeeq?

Some letters are always heavy (خ ص ض غ ط ق ظ); ra and the lam of Allah are heavy after fatha or damma and light after kasra.

When is the lam of Allah heavy?

After a fatha or damma (for example وَٱللَّهُ, قَالَ ٱللَّهُ). It is light after a kasra (بِٱللَّهِ).

Are the examples coloured?

Quran.com’s colour data has no class for this, so heavy cases are shown in orange and light cases in blue on these pages.

Cite this

Permanent link: https://holy-quran-noor.vercel.app/learn/tajweed/tafkheem-tarqeeq

Plain
Tafkheem & tarqeeq: Tajweed Rule, Letters & Quran Examples | তাফখীম ও তারকীক (Tajweed). Noor Quran. https://holy-quran-noor.vercel.app/learn/tajweed/tafkheem-tarqeeq
APA
Noor Quran. (n.d.). Tafkheem & tarqeeq: Tajweed Rule, Letters & Quran Examples | তাফখীম ও তারকীক [Tajweed]. Retrieved November 13, 2026, from https://holy-quran-noor.vercel.app/learn/tajweed/tafkheem-tarqeeq
MLA
“Tafkheem & tarqeeq: Tajweed Rule, Letters & Quran Examples | তাফখীম ও তারকীক.” Tajweed. Noor Quran, https://holy-quran-noor.vercel.app/learn/tajweed/tafkheem-tarqeeq. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.
Markdown
[Tafkheem & tarqeeq: Tajweed Rule, Letters & Quran Examples | তাফখীম ও তারকীক](https://holy-quran-noor.vercel.app/learn/tajweed/tafkheem-tarqeeq) — Tajweed, Noor Quran

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