Madd I: The Natural Madd

What madd is

Madd (مَدٌّ) means "stretching". It is the lengthening of a vowel sound, and it is carried by three letters: alif, wāw and yāʾ when they have no vowel of their own and follow the matching short vowel. The natural madd (madd ṭabīʿī مَدٌّ طَبِيعِيٌّ), also called the original madd (madd aṣlī), is the basic form: it is held for two counts, no more and no less, and it needs no hamza or sukūn after it to exist. Every other kind of madd is this natural madd made longer by something that follows it.

Rule 1: The three madd letters and their conditions

A letter is a madd letter only when two conditions meet: it carries no vowel, and the letter before it carries the matching short vowel. Alif is always sākin and is always preceded by fatḥa. Wāw must be sākin and preceded by ḍamma. Yāʾ must be sākin and preceded by kasra. The word نُوحِيهَا (11:49) contains all three in order: ū after ḍamma, ī after kasra, ā after fatḥa. If wāw or yāʾ carries a vowel (وَلَا, يَوْمِ) or follows a different vowel (خَوْفٍ), it is not a madd letter.

مَالِكِ
māliki
Master
alif after fatḥa: ā for two counts (1:4).
أَعُوذُ
aʿūdhu
I seek refuge
wāw sākin after ḍamma: ū (113:1).
تَرْمِيهِم
tarmīhim
pelting them
yāʾ sākin after kasra: ī (105:4).
نُوحِيهَا
nūḥīhā
We reveal it
all three madd letters in one word (11:49).
اَلْكَافِرُونَ
al-kāfirūna
the disbelievers
ā in كَا and ū in رُو, each two counts when continuing (109:1).

Exactly two counts

A count (ḥaraka) is the length of one short vowel at your reading speed, roughly the time to open or close a finger. The natural madd is two of these. Beginners most often make it too short, swallowing the difference between مَلِكِ (maliki, king) and مَالِكِ (māliki, master), or too long, stretching قَالَ to four counts out of enthusiasm. Both change the word. Fix the two-count length in your ear first; all the longer madds are measured against it.

Letter	Needs before it	Sound	Example
ا	fatḥa	ā	اَلصِّرَاطَ
و (sākin)	ḍamma	ū	يُؤْمِنُونَ
ي (sākin)	kasra	ī	جِيدِهَا

Letter

Needs before it

Sound

Example

fatḥa

اَلصِّرَاطَ

و (sākin)

ḍamma

يُؤْمِنُونَ

ي (sākin)

kasra

جِيدِهَا

Rule 2: Natural madd hidden in the script

The muṣḥaf writes some natural madds in ways a beginner may not expect. The dagger alif (ٰ), a small upright stroke above a letter, is a full alif of two counts: اَلرَّحْمَٰنِ, ذَٰلِكَ, هَٰذَا. The pronoun hāʾ ـهُ or ـهِ is lengthened to two counts when it stands between two vowelled letters; the muṣḥaf marks this with a small wāw or yāʾ after it: إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ, بِهِۦ. This lengthening is called ṣilat al-hāʾ. A written alif that is silent: in آمَنُوا۟ the wāw after ḍamma is the madd letter and the final alif is not pronounced; and in أَنَا۠ the alif is dropped when continuing to the next word.

اَلرَّحْمَٰنِ
ar-raḥmāni
the Most Merciful
dagger alif over the م: two counts (1:1).
ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ
dhālika l-kitābu
that is the Book
dagger alif over the ذ (2:2).
إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ تَوَّابًا
innahū kāna tawwābā
indeed He is ever accepting of repentance
pronoun hāʾ between two vowels: lengthened to ū (110:3).
مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ
māluhū wa mā kasab
his wealth and what he earned
ṣilat al-hāʾ before و (111:2).
وَلَا أَنَا۠ عَابِدٌ
wa lā ana ʿābidun
nor am I a worshipper
the alif of أَنَا is silent in continuation (109:4).