Tajweed Symbols Guide — Quranic Stop Signs Explained

Master the art of Quranic recitation with our comprehensive guide to Waqf and diacritics.

Waqf (Stop) Signs

Waqf signs indicate whether a reciter should stop, pause, or continue at a particular point in the Quran.

Symbol	Arabic Name	Meaning	Instruction
م	وقف لازم	Compulsory Stop	Must stop here — stopping is obligatory
لا	لا وقف	No Stop	Do not stop here — continue reading
ج	وقف جائز	Permissible Stop	Stopping is allowed but not required
قف	قف	Stop	Stop is preferred here
ص	وقف مرخص	Permitted Stop	Stopping permitted due to length of verse
ط	وقف مطلق	Absolute Stop	Full stop — meaning is complete
ز	وقف مجوز	Allowed Stop	Stopping is allowed with brief pause

Mu'anaqah — The Linked Stops

The mu'anaqah (معانقة) is a unique pair of stop signs that appear at two places in the same verse. They look like three dots arranged in a triangle (∴ and ∵). The rule is:

If you stop at the first sign, you must continue past the second.
If you stop at the second sign, you must continue past the first.
You cannot stop at both — the meaning changes if you do.

ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ

Hamza Variants

Hamza (the glottal stop) appears in several forms in Arabic, each with a specific usage rule:

Symbol	Name	Usage
ء	همزة (Hamza)	Standalone hamza — not attached to a letter
أ	همزة فوق ألف	Hamza above alef — pronounced with fatḥah or ḍammah
إ	همزة تحت ألف	Hamza below alef — pronounced with kasrah
ؤ	همزة واو	Hamza on waw — follows specific vowel rules
ئ	همزة ياء	Hamza on ya — used in certain grammatical positions
آ	مد ألف	Alef with madda — prolonged "aa" sound
ٱ	همزة وصل	Wasla — connecting hamza, silent when preceded by a vowel

Quranic Diacritics

Beyond standard harakat, the Quran uses several special diacritical marks unique to Quranic script:

Khanjariyya (ٰ) — a small vertical alef indicating a prolonged "aa" sound
Small waw (ۅ) and small ya (ۆ) — indicate prolonged "oo" and "ee" sounds in Uthmani script
Sajdah mark (۩) — marks a verse requiring prostration (sujood)
Hizb mark (۞) — marks a quarter of a Juz' (section of Quran)

💡 Tip: Our keyboard includes all these symbols in the Tajweed section. Expand the section and click any symbol to insert it at the cursor position in your text.

Maddah — The Prolongation Marks

Maddah signs tell the reciter to elongate a vowel sound for a specific number of counts (harakāt):

Natural Madd (مد طبيعي) — 2 counts, occurs with alef, waw, or ya after a matching vowel
Connected Madd (مد متصل) — 4–5 counts, when a madd letter is followed by hamza in the same word
Separated Madd (مد منفصل) — 2–5 counts, when a madd letter is followed by hamza at the start of the next word

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