Madd III: Lāzim, ʿĀriḍ li-s-Sukūn and Līn

Madd lāzim comes in four kinds, named by two questions. Is it in an ordinary word (kalimī) or in one of the opening letters of a sūra (ḥarfī)? Is the sukūn after the madd part of a doubled letter (muthaqqal, "heavy") or a plain sukūn (mukhaffaf, "light")? Kalimī muthaqqal: a madd letter followed by a shadda in a word, as in اَلضَّالِّينَ, اَلْحَاقَّةُ, اَلصَّاخَّةُ. Kalimī mukhaffaf: a madd letter followed by a plain sukūn; it occurs in only one word, آلْآنَ, twice in Sūrat Yūnus (10:51 and 10:91). Ḥarfī muthaqqal: in the opening letters, a letter whose spelled-out name ends in a sākin letter that merges into the next letter, as the ل of الٓمٓ (lām-mīm, where the م of lām merges into mīm). Ḥarfī mukhaffaf: an opening letter whose name has a madd followed by a plain sukūn, as نٓ, قٓ, صٓ and the مٓ of الٓمٓ.

Most ayahs end with a vowelled letter preceded by a madd letter: اَلْعَالَمِينَ, اَلرَّحِيمِ, اَلدِّينِ. When you continue, the final madd is natural (two counts). When you stop, the final vowel is dropped, the last letter takes sukūn, and the madd letter is now followed by a sukūn: the madd becomes ʿāriḍ li-s-sukūn and may be held for two, four or six counts. Choose one length and keep it for the whole recitation.

When و or ي carries sukūn after a fatḥa, it is not a madd letter but a līn (soft) letter: خَوْفٍ (khawf), اَلْبَيْتِ (bayt). In continuous reading there is no lengthening at all; the sound is simply the diphthong aw or ay. But if you stop on a word in which the līn letter is followed by only one more letter, that final letter takes sukūn, and the līn letter may be stretched for two, four or six counts, just like madd ʿāriḍ. Sūrat Quraysh is the classic illustration: every ayah ends on such a word.