1
12. SCIENCE OF TAJWĪD (3) Further Assimilation We have learned about the assimilation of the sound “n” if it is followed by one of the six letters: Y ي, R ر, L ل,N ن,W وand M ) مremember: “You aRe aLoNe With Me,” ِ!!!Ann), such as man yashā’ َمن يَ َشاءread maYYashā’. These letters are called “letters of assimilation”, (ḥurūf al-idghām, )حروف اإلدغام. The sound “n” assimilates with the letters that follow it. There is a further assimilation, but not of the sound “n”, but of two letters where the first assimilated to the other, the one that follows it. The purpose of it is for easy reading without obscuring the meaning. For example: -
-
“d” دfollowed by “t” ت, such as: qad tabayyana َ قَد تَ َبيَّن. Qad alone should be read qadə (being one of the five letter of intensification; remember: “cat, beta gamma delta”) د ج ب ط ق, but because it is followed by letter “t” تthe letter “d” دbecomes assimilated with letter “t” تand it becomes double “t”, and should be read qat tabayyana. In English for “good time,” we say “goot time”; for “bad temper” we say “bat temper.” If I say “a heart time” you will understand that what I mean is “a hard time.” “t” تfollowed by “d” ; دthis is the opposite of the first. For example, athqalat da‘awā أَثقَلَت َد َع َواshould be read athqalad da‘awā . In English, for “hot day” we say “hod day”. If I say “hod dog” you will know that what I mean is “hot dog.”
- “t” تfollowed by “ṭ” ; طfor example: hammat ṭā’ifatun ٌهَ َّمت طَائِفَة should be read hammaṭ ṭā’ifatun. Since we have no example in English, it may be close to the Australian accent “right time.”
- “ṭ” طfollowed by t” ت, the opposite of the above, such as la’in
َ لَئِن بَ َسطshould be read la’im basaṭəta, but because “ṭ” basaṭta¸ ت طis followed by “t” ت, then it is read la’im basatta. Remember
hoṭ temper.
2
- “l” لfollowed by “r”ر, such as qul rabbi قُل َربwe should read qur rabbi. For “full refund” we say “fur refund”. If I say “Or right” you will know that what I mean is “all-right”. - “q” قfollowed by “k” ك, such as nakhluqkum نَخلُق ُكمwhich is supposed to be read nakhluqəkum, but because letter “q” قis followed by letter “k” كand has to be assimilated with it and becomes double “k” ك, we read nakhlukkum. For Jaque Cartier say Jak Kartier. - “dh” ذis followed by “ẓ” ظ, such as idh ẓalamtum إِذ ظَلَمتُمshould be read iẓ ẓalamtum. For with ẓeal, say wiẓ ẓeal -
“th” ثfollowed by “dh” ذ, such as yalhath dhālika َيَلهَث َذلِك should be read yalhadh dhālika. For have a bath there! say
badh dhere! To remember all, try to memoraize “All-right, JaqueCartier has hoṭ-temper, has hard-time, not right-time to have hot-dog with ẓeal, then have a bath there” Some important technical terms in the science of tajwīd. When we learn any branch of knowledge we cannot avoid learning some technical terms dealing with it. If you learn karate, for example, you have to learn and know the names of different kinds of standing, punching, and kicking in Japanese. If you learn yoga, you have to learn different kinds of postures, and breathings, such as deep and shallow breathing, in Sanskrit language. As we are dealing with tajwīd we have to learn some important technical terms in it in Arabic language, as follows: a. Vowel signs - fatḥah فَت َحه, sound “a”. For example, “ba” ب َ (sounds like “ba” in “bar.”) The word fatḥah literally means “opening, gape, hole”. The verb fataḥa ) (فَتَ َحmeans “to open”. When we say this vowel “a” we open our mouth. In English we have this “a”
3
-
-
-
-
1
sound in hut, but, cut, some. Examples in Arabic which we read from right to left are: س َ ( َد َرdarasa, to study), س َ َ( َرأra’asa, to lead). To remember this term just remember “fetter ” which is close to sound fatḥah. kasrah َكس َره, sound “i”. For example, “bi”ب ِ (sounds like “be”). The word kasrah literally means “breakdown, collapse.” The verb kasara ) ( َك َس َرmeans “to break.” When we say this vowel “i” we break our sound. In English we have sit, big, and hit. The examples in Arabic are: ( قِفqif, stop!), and ( ِمنmin, from). To remember this term just remember “casserole” (covered heatproof dish in which food is cooked and then served at table) which sounds almost like kasrah. ḍammah ض َّمه َ , sound “u”. For example, “du” ( ُدsounds like short “do”). The verb ḍamma )ض َّم َ ( literally means “to bring together, to join, to embrace.” When we say this vowel “u” we join our lips. In English we have words like put, The examples in Arabic are|: ( قُلqul, say!), and ( ُخذkhudh, take!).To remember this term just remember “dummy” which is close to ḍammah. sukūn ( ُس ُكونsilence). For example, تin “ بَتbat” (sounds like “but”). The word sukūn literally means “silence, quiet, calm, tranquility.” Here it means “vowellessness of a medial or final consonant.” The verb sakana ) َ ( َس َكنmeans “to become still, to calm down, to repose, to rest, to be peaceful, to be tranquil.” The examples in English are: between (letter “t” and “n”), and helmet (letter “h” and “t”). The examples in Arabic are: أَكبَر (akbar, greater),1 and ( أَشهَ ُدashhadu, I bear witness). To remember this term just remember “spoon” shaddah َش َّدهor tashdīd ( تَش ِديدdouble consonant). For example, َّ َ( بsounds like but-ter). The term shaddah and tashdīd “batta” ت mean “strengthening, intensification, and stress.” Here it means “doubling sign over a consonant”. The verb shadda )( َش َّد means “to become form, solid, hard, strong, intense.” We can hardly find any shaddah in English. Double consonant does not intensify the letter, but makes it pronounced fast, such as “later” and “latter”, but we find many in Italian, such as
( هAllāhu Akbar) we just translate it as “God is great”. When we say ّللا أَ ْك َبر
4
Gioseppe (Joseph), bello, (handsome, fine, nice), bellissima (most beautiful). In English when we say October and pronounce the letter ”c” with “t”, and read Ottober, we then double the letter “t” and it becomes shaddah, and this is in Italian language, Ottobre. In the same way if we say ham then mer (ham-mer), then the double “m” is pronounced shaddah.2 To remember this term, just remember “shady.” - madd َمدor maddah ( َم َّدهprolongation). There are three letters used to assist the prolongation, namely, ( اa, alif), ( وw, waw), and ( يy, ya’), for example, = َدda, = دَاdā; = ِدdi, = ِديdī; = ُد du, = ُدوdū. In English we have examples: father, rather, seen, feel, room, soon. The examples in Arabic are: ( دَارdār, home, abode, building, residence, seat), ( َمالmāl, property, goods, wealth); ( ِدينdīn, religion, way of life), ( فِيfī, in, at); ( نُورnūr, light), ( سُو َرهsurah, chapter of the Qur’ān). To remember this term, just remember “mud” and “muddy”, close to madd َمدand maddah َم َّده - tanwīn تَن ِوين, nūnation, namely, adding sound “n” by doubling the vowel sign. For example, = َدda, = دdan (not “dada”), a letter alif is used to be put with it, so = دَاdā, and = داdan (not dān); = ِدdi, = دdin (not “didi”); = ُدdu, = ٌدdun (not “dudu”). To remember this stern, just remember “tan-win” - waqf َوقف, stop, either compulsory to avoid changing the meaning, or preferred (at the end of the sentence), either recommended or not recommended, permissible or not permissible, etc. For people who know the meaning of what they are reading, most probably they will not stop in the wrong place. For example, you will never stop in the wrong place and say, “Tomorrow – morning I – shall go with my – friend John and his – cousin to the – market at – about ten – o’clock sharp,” but you would say: “Tomorrow morning – I shall go - with my friend John - and his cousin - to the market - at about- ten o’clock sharp.” The literal meaning of waqf is “stopping, stop; 2
There is a slight shaddah when the French people say words like famille (family) and fille (daughter) pronouncing almost like famiyyə’ and fiyyə’ respectively.
5
-
-
-
discontinuation, suspension; pausing, resting, pause, rest”; it also means, in religious term, endowment fund, “wakaf” and “haboos”). The verb waqafa ) َ ( َوقَفmeans “to come to standstill, to come to stop, to halt, to pause”, and to remember the term waqf is just to remember giving endowment fund called waqf. lafẓ al-jalālah ( لَفظُ ال َجالَلَهlit. “the word of majesty”), namely “Allah” للا ُ ( َحرlit. “letter of superiority”), superior ḥarf isti‘lā’ ف اِستِعالَء letter. There are seven of them, and are difficult to articulate, available mostly in Semitic languages only, especially Arabic; they are: kh خ- ṣ ص- ḍ ض- gh غ- ṭ ط- q ق- ẓ ظ, combined in the expression ضغطُ قِظ َ َّ ُخص. (lit. “It has been singled out to suppress Qiẓ”). These letters are always articulated strongly tafkhīm تَف ِخيم, it is emphatic pronunciation of a consonant, namely, pronouncing strongly. The verb fakhkhama ) (فَ َّخ َمmeans “to intensify, to honour, to pronounce emphatically or strongly.” tarqīq تَرقِيق, it is soft or weak pronunciation. The verb raqqa َّ ( َرmeans “to become soft, thin, tender; to soften, to have pity, )ق to feel compassion.”
b. The definite article “al” ال In English language the definite article “the” is pronounced “thie” before the vowels, such as “the apple, the end, and the orange.” In Arabic, article “al” remains as it is before “moon” (qamariyyah) letters, whereas before “sun” (shamsiyyah) letters, the letter “l” in “al” becomes assimilated with the “sun” letter that follows it, and intensifies it. The moon in Arabic is called qamar, and if you put “al” before it, the “al” does not change, namely, al-qamar أَلقَ َمر. The sun in Arabic is shams, and if you but the article “al” before it, it becomes ash-shams أَل َّشمس.3 The “l” is not pronounced, and the “sh” is doubled and intensified. 3
There are two systems of Arabic transliteration used nowadays: Library of Congress and McGill University. Both keep the “al” for the “sun” letters as
6
Half of the 28 Arabic letters belong to the “moon” letters, and the other half belong to the “sun” letters. The “moon” letters are: alif/hamzah (ا/)ء, bā’ ()ب, jīm ()ج, ḥā’ ()ح, khā’ ()خ, ‘ayn ()ع, ghayn ()غ, fā’ ()ف, qāf ()ق, kāf ()ك, mīm ()م, wāw ()و, hā’ ()ه and yā’ ()ي. The “sun” letters are: tā’ ()ت, thā’ ()ث, dāl ()د, dhāl ()ذ, rā’ ()ر, zay ()ز, sīn ()س, shīn ()ش, ṣād ()ص, ḍād ()ض, ṭā’ ()ط, ẓā’ ()ظ, lām ( )لand nūn ()ن. Since we are familiar with the verses of the Qur’an which we recite in our prayer we do not need to remember these “moon” and “sun” letters. By reading the Qur’an we shall become familiar with them. The first chapter of the Qur’an is called al-Fātiḥah, and the second one is called al-Baqarah, where letter “f” فand “b” بbelong to the “moon” letters. In the first chapter we say al-ḥamdu, “( اَل َحم ُدḥ” حis a “moon” letter), al-raḥmān ( الرَّحمنread ar-raḥmān, so “r” رis a “sun” letter). (to be continued) (CIVIC, 10 April, 2015) Bibliography: Denffer, Ahmad von. ‘Ulūm al-Qur’ān. Kuala Lumpur: The Islamic Foundation, 1983 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajwid https://ishfah7.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/belajar-tajwid-al-quran/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_alphabet#Hij.C4.81.E2.80.99.C4. AB
it is, but in other matters they have slight difference. For example, for ال َّشمْ سِ يَّهthe Library of Congress use al-shamsiyya (with double “y” but without “h”), whereas McGill University use al-shamsīyah (with “īy” and with “h”) , and I prefer the mixture of the two, namely, al-shamsiyyah, with additional “h” because of the presence of “h” at the end of the word, although slightly pronounced. People who are not familiar with this transliteration may write, for example, Abdurrahman, Abdul-Rahman, Abdur Rahman, etc, where in its transliteration it should be ‘Abd alRaḥmān.