Three letters stretch the sound: The three short vowels can be stretched into long vowels. Alif (ا) after a Fatha stretches "a" into a long "aa". Waw (و) after a Damma stretches "u" into a long "oo". Ya (ي) after a Kasra stretches "i" into a long "ee". These three letters — ا و ي — are called the long vowel letters.
Sun and moon letters: When ال (al-, "the") is added to a word, two things can happen. With moon letters (14 of them), the ل is read clearly: الْكِتَاب (al-kitāb, "the book"), الْقَمَر (al-qamar, "the moon"). With sun letters (the other 14), the ل disappears into the first letter of the word, which is doubled: الشَّمْس (ash-shams, "the sun" — not al-shams), الرَّحْمَٰن (ar-Rahmān — not al-Rahmān), النُّور (an-Nūr, "the light").
Your first ten words: Now put it all together and read ten words you will meet again and again: الله (Allah — God), مُحَمَّد (Muhammad — the Prophet SAW), عَلِيّ (Ali — Imam Ali as), صَلَاة (prayer), قُرْآن (the Quran), رَحْمَة (mercy), عِلْم (knowledge), تَقْوَى (God-consciousness), إِيمَان (faith), جَنَّة (Paradise).
Read slowly, then faster: Read each word letter by letter, from right to left. Name each Haraka. Say the long vowels long and the short vowels short. Then read the word again in one breath. You are now reading Arabic.
Example
The Basmalah, letter by letter: Read بِسْمِ اللَّهِ slowly: بِ (bi — Ba with Kasra) + سْ (s — Sin with Sukun) + مِ (mi — Mim with Kasra) = bis-mi. Then اللَّهِ: ا (Alif) + لَّ (double Lam — sun letter, the ل of ال doubled) + هِ (hi). Put together: Bismillah — "In the name of Allah". You have just read the most repeated phrase in the Quran.
Key Terms
- Long vowels (مد) — Alif, Waw, and Ya stretching a short vowel into a long sound: "aa", "oo", "ee"
- Sun letters (حروف شمسية) — the 14 letters that absorb the "l" of ال
- Moon letters (حروف قمرية) — the 14 letters that keep the "l" of ال clear
- Basmalah (بسملہ) — بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ, "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate"
Quran or Hadith
Quran 1:3 — الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ — "The Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate." — to be checked. The ل of ال disappears into the ر in الرَّحْمَٰنِ — ر is a sun letter, so you say "ar-Rahmān", not "al-Rahmān". This one short phrase teaches you sun letters and long vowels at once.
Fresh diagram to be drawn: A sun and a moon side by side in Project Desk colours — under the sun, the 14 sun letters; under the moon, the 14 moon letters — with الشَّمْس and الْقَمَر as the two examples.
- Alif, Waw, and Ya stretch short vowels into long ones: "aa", "oo", "ee".
- With sun letters, the "l" of ال disappears and the next letter is doubled; with moon letters, the "l" is read clearly.
- Read letter by letter, from right to left — then read the whole word in one breath.