The word · The Qur’an
التَّفْخيمُ وَالتَّرْقيق
Tafkhim and Tarqiq
Heavy and light pronunciation: some letters fill the mouth, others stay thin.
Also written · Tafkhim · Tafkheem · Tarqiq · Tarqeeq · Tafkheem tarqeeq · Isti'la · heavy letters · light letters · emphatic letters
The meaning
What Tafkhim and Tarqiq means in Islam
Seven letters are always heavy, gathered by teachers in a mnemonic phrase, khussa daghtin qiz. Ra and the lam in the name Allah switch between heavy and light depending on the vowels around them, and alif simply follows whatever came before it. The distinction is not decorative: a heavy letter said thin can turn one word into a different word.
Evidence · Editorial · Our own summary, drawn from the sources named
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- Sifat al-HurufThe qualities of each letter: whispered or voiced, heavy or light, tense or flowing.صِفاتُ الحُروف
- TajwidThe rules for pronouncing the Qur'an correctly: each letter from its place, with its proper qualities.التَّجْويد
- Makharij al-HurufThe points in the mouth, throat and nose where each Arabic letter is produced.مَخارِجُ الحُروف
More from The Qur’an
- Al-Ahruf as-Sab'ahThe seven modes in which the Qur'an was revealed, an ease for the community; what a mode is stays disputed.الأَحْرُفُ السَّبْعَة
- Hafs an AsimThe reading found in most printed mushafs today, transmitted by Hafs from his teacher Asim of Kufa.حَفْصٌ عَنْ عاصِم
- Isti'adhahSaying I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan before beginning to recite.الاسْتِعاذَة
- MufassalThe last stretch of the Qur'an, from about Surah Qaf to the end, made up of shorter surahs.المُفَصَّل
- QariA reciter of the Qur'an; in the classical sense, one trained and certified in a particular reading.القارِئ
- TadabburSlow reflection on the Qur'an, letting a verse work on you instead of passing over it.التَّدَبُّر