Natural Madd and Its Types

Introduction:

Madd (elongation) is the elongation of sound with one of the letters of madd or softness.

The three letters of madd are:

• - Alif (ا) which only comes sakin (non-vowelled) and preceded by a fatha, as in: (قَال).
• - Wāw (و) which is sakin and preceded by a ḍammah, as in: (يَقُول).
• - Yāʼ (ي) which is sakin and preceded by a kasrah, as in: (قِيل).

These three letters are found together in one Qur'anic word: ﴿نُوحِيهَآ﴾.

The letters of softness are:

• - Wāw sakin preceded by a fatḥah, as in: (خَوْف).
• - Yāʼ sakin preceded by a fatḥah, as in: (بَيْت).

The madd and softness letters are those that allow for prolonged sound while breathing out.

Their duration falls under three levels:

• - Short: 2 counts.
• - Medium: 4 counts.
• - Long: 6 counts.

Madd is divided into two types: natural (ṭabīʿī) and secondary (farʿī). This lesson focuses on the natural madd.

First: Definition and Duration of Natural Madd

Natural madd is the type of prolongation without which the very essence of the Madd letter cannot exist. and that does not depend on any cause such as a hamzah or sukoon. It sufficient that the madd letter exists for this madd to take place. It is characterized by not being preceded by a hamzah and not followed by a hamzah, sukoon, or a doubled letter. Examples include: the alif, wāw, and yāʼ in ﴿وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ﴾.

It is called 'natural' because someone with a natural instinct will not lengthen or shorten it beyond its limit.

Its duration is 2 counts — equivalent to the time it takes to pronounce two ta’s with fathah letters like: (تَ، تَ).

Second: Types of Natural Madd

Natural madd is divided into two types:

1. Word-Based Natural Madd (al-madd aṭ-ṭabīʿī al-kalimī): Found in Qur'anic words and has three forms:

• 1 – مد العوض: هو تعويض تنوين الفتح أواخر الكلمات ألفًا، كما في قوله تعالى: ﴿عَلِيمًا﴾، فيوقف عليها بألف هكذا: (عَلِيما)، وتمد هذه الألف مدًا طبيعيًا مقداره حركتان.

  وتستثنى الكلمات المختومة بالتاء المربوطة، فإنه يوقف عليها بالهاء، نحو: ﴿بَقَرَةٗ﴾ فيوقف عليها بهاء هكذا: (بَقَرَه).

• b. The lesser connecting Madd (Ṣilah Ṣughrā Madd): When a third-person masculine pronoun (هاء الكناية) is located between two voweled letters, it is linked with a wāw if the hāʼ is caries a dummah or a yāʼ if the hāʼ carries kasrah. Example: ﴿إِنَّ رَبَّهُۥ كَانَ بِهِۦ بَصِيرٗا﴾ where (رَبَّهُ) is joined with wāw and (بِهِ) with yāʼ, each prolonged naturally for two counts.²
• c. Madd Tamkīn(empowering madd): its empowering a sakin wāw when it meets a moving wāw (e.g., ﴿تَلۡوُۥنَ﴾), or empowering a sakin yāʼ when it meets a moving yāʼ (e.g., ﴿ٱلنَّبِيِّۧنَ﴾), Tamkīn means clarifying the letter so that it is distinguished from its similar counterpart( waw with waw and ya’ with ya’) ²

2. Letter-Based Natural Madd (al-madd aṭ-ṭabīʿī al-ḥarfī): Found in some of the disjoint letters (ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿah) at the start of certain Qur'anic surahs.

These are the letters in the phrase (حي طهر): حا، يا، طا، هـا، را (Ḥā , ya , Ṭā ,ha,Ra)— which are spelled out with two letters, the second of which is a madd letter. For example, the ṭāʼ and hāʼ in ﴿طه﴾ and the ḥāʼ in ﴿حمٓ﴾. The alif in them is naturally prolonged for two counts, its called madd harfi tabi’i(madd tabi’i of letter).²