Qalqala in Depth

The five letters

Qalqala (قَلْقَلَةٌ) means "shaking" or "disturbance". It is the short echo heard when one of five letters, ق ط ب ج د, is pronounced with sukūn. The letters are remembered by the phrase قُطْبُ جَدٍّ. They are the only letters that have both shidda (the sound stops) and jahr (the breath stops), so without a release nothing would be heard at all. The release is a quick, clean bounce of the articulation point. It is not a vowel: قُلْ is qul, never qul-u or qul-a.

Rule 1: When qalqala occurs

Qalqala happens whenever one of the five letters has sukūn, whether that sukūn is written in the word or arises because you stop on the word. It never happens when the letter carries a vowel: in تَبَّتْ the doubled ب is followed by fatḥa, so there is no bounce. The sukūn may be in the middle of a word (يَدْخُلُونَ) or at the end of a word that you continue through (قَدْ أَفْلَحَ).

يَدْخُلُونَ
yadkhulūna
they enter
دْ in the middle of the word (110:2).
اقْرَأْ
iqraʾ
read!
قْ with sukūn written in the word (96:1).
أَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ
alam yajʿal
did He not make
جْ with sukūn written in the word (105:2).
مَطْلَعِ الْفَجْرِ
maṭlaʿi l-fajri
the rising of the dawn
طْ heavy with a heavy bounce (97:5).
اَلْأَبْتَرُ
al-abtaru
the one cut off
بْ in the middle of the word (108:3).

Rule 2: The three levels

Minor (ṣughrā): the letter has sukūn in the middle of a word or at the end of a word you continue through; the bounce is light and quick. Major (kubrā): the letter is the last letter of a word you stop on, so the sukūn comes from stopping; the bounce is clearer and slightly stronger. Strongest (akbar): the letter is doubled (shadda) at the end of a word you stop on; the letter is held for a moment and then released with the strongest bounce.

لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ
laylati l-qadri
the Night of Decree
minor: دْ inside the word (97:1).
بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ
birabbi l-falaq
in the Lord of the daybreak
major: stopping on ق at the end of the ayah (113:1).
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
lam yalid wa lam yūlad
He neither begets nor is born
major on يُولَدْ at the stop; the first دْ is minor if you continue (112:3).
وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ
wa tawāṣaw bil-ḥaqq
and urged one another to truth
strongest: doubled ق at the stop; hold, then release (103:3).
تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ
tabbat yadā abī lahabin wa tabb
Perish the hands of Abū Lahab, and perish he
strongest: doubled ب at the stop in وَتَبَّ; but no qalqala in تَبَّتْ, where the ب has fatḥa (111:1).

Letter	Sākin inside a word (minor)	At a stop (major)	Weight
ق	اقْرَأْ	اَلْفَلَقِ	heavy (istiʿlāʾ)
ط	مَطْلَعِ	مُحِيطٌ	heavy (iṭbāq)
ب	اَلْأَبْتَرُ	وَقَبَ	light
ج	يَجْعَلْ	اَلْبُرُوجِ	light
د	اَلْقَدْرِ	يُولَدْ	light

Letter

Sākin inside a word (minor)

At a stop (major)

Weight

اقْرَأْ

اَلْفَلَقِ

heavy (istiʿlāʾ)

مَطْلَعِ

مُحِيطٌ

heavy (iṭbāq)

اَلْأَبْتَرُ

وَقَبَ

light

يَجْعَلْ

اَلْبُرُوجِ

light

اَلْقَدْرِ

يُولَدْ

light

Reading the sign in the muṣḥaf

In the Madinah muṣḥaf a sukūn is written as a small circle-shaped head of خ above the letter. Whenever you see it on ق ط ب ج د, bounce. At the end of an ayah no sukūn is written because the final letter normally carries a vowel; the sukūn appears only because you stop, and so does the qalqala. In the Fusha Path reader, letters with qalqala are coloured red.

The five letters

Rule 1: When qalqala occurs

Rule 2: The three levels

The letters of qalqala with examples

Reading the sign in the muṣḥaf

In the Quran