Nūn

Video of the Letter Nūn:

This short video presents the articulation and characteristics of the letter Nūn, demonstrating its correct pronunciation with Qur’anic examples, and highlighting common pronunciation errors made by readers.

First: The Articulation Point (Makhrāj) of Nūn:

Nūn is pronounced from the tip of the tongue with the opposing gums of upper teeth, slightly below the articulation point of Lām. It is accompanied by a nasal sound (Ghunnah) coming from the nasal cavity (Khayshoom). Thus, the sound of Nūn is formed from two components: one from the mouth and one from the nasal passage.

Second: The Most Important Characteristics Nūn:

Bayniyyah (partial flow of sound) and Istifāl (lowering or non-elevation).

The image of Nūn Articulation point shows the tongue closing on the palate and the nasal cavity being open, which causes the sound of ghunnah to flow with Nūn. This results in a partial flow of the sound while pronouncing it. This is called 'Bayniyyah'.

It is also a lowering letter (Istifāl), due to the lowered position of the back of the tongue during pronunciation.

Third: Pronouncing Nūn through Qur’anic Examples:

You can click on the word to hear the correct pronunciation.

أولاً: النون في حال السكون
أَنْ	أُنْ	إِنْ
﴿أَنۡعَمۡتَ﴾	﴿ٱلدُّنۡيَا﴾	﴿مِنۡهَا﴾

ثانيًا: النون مع الحركات
نَ	نُ	نِ
﴿نَعۡبُدُ﴾	﴿نُّقَٰتِلۡ﴾	﴿نِعۡمَةَ﴾

ثالثًا: النون مع حروف المد
نا	نو	ني
﴿نَارٗا﴾	﴿نُودِيَ﴾	﴿بَنِي﴾

رابعًا: النون في حال التشديد When Nūn is doubled (Mushaddad), the ghunnah should be prolonged to two counts (2 Harakah):
أَنَّ	أَنُّ	أَنِّ
﴿أَنَّهُمۡ﴾	﴿ٱلنُّورِ﴾	﴿ٱلنِّسَآءِ﴾

رابعًا: النون في حال التشديد

When Nūn is doubled (Mushaddad), the ghunnah should be prolonged to two counts (2 Harakah):

أَنَّ

أَنُّ

أَنِّ

﴿أَنَّهُمۡ﴾

﴿ٱلنُّورِ﴾

﴿ٱلنِّسَآءِ﴾

Fourth: Common Mistakes in Pronouncing Nūn:

أولاً: الزيادة في غنة النون غير المشددةsuch as: ﴿أَنۡهَٰرُ﴾، والصواب: ﴿أَنۡهَٰرُ﴾، قال الله تعالى: ﴿تَجۡرِي مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَٰرُ﴾.
• Failing to extend the Ghunnah on doubled Nūn(Mushaddad): ❌ ﴿ٱلنَّاسُ﴾ → ✅ ﴿ٱلنَّاسُ﴾ (You should give doubled Nūn 2 counts whether it is in the middle of the word or at the End) ▶ Allah says: ﴿يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ ٱعۡبُدُواْ رَبَّكُمُ﴾
• Over-extending the Ghunnah more than two counts: ❌ ﴿ٱلۡخَنَّاسِ﴾ → ✅ ﴿ٱلۡخَنَّاسِ﴾ ▶ Allah says: ﴿مِن شَرِّ ٱلۡوَسۡوَاسِ ٱلۡخَنَّاسِ﴾
4.Adding qalqalah when Mīm is non-vowelled(Sakin), such as: ﴿أَنۡعَمۡتَ﴾. Correct: ﴿أَنۡعَمۡتَ﴾. Allah says: ﴿صِرَٰطَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنۡعَمۡتَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ﴾.
• Treating it as an intense (Shadid) letter and cutting its sound abruptly: ❌ ﴿يَعۡمَلُونَ﴾ → ✅ ﴿يَعۡمَلُونَ﴾(Correct way is to allow partial sound flow when pronouncing it(Bayniyyah) ▶ Allah says: ﴿وَٱللَّهُ بَصِيرُۢ بِمَا يَعۡمَلُونَ﴾
• Pronouncing it heavily, especially next to a heavy letter (Mufakham): ❌ ﴿نَصِيبٗا﴾ → ✅ ﴿نَصِيبٗا﴾ ▶ Allah says: ﴿نَصِيبٗا مَّفۡرُوضٗا﴾
• Concealing its sound when it is at the end of the word and you stop on it, and it came after a non-vowelled letter (Sakin): ❌ ﴿وَيَقۡبِضۡنَ﴾ → ✅ ﴿وَيَقۡبِضۡنَ﴾ ▶ Allah says: ﴿وَيَقۡبِضۡنَ﴾

الرعاية (193)، التحديد (105)، نهاية القول المفيد (53)، هداية القاري (1/68)، التجويد المصور (55)، المنير (61).

الرعاية (193)، نهاية القول المفيد (107-108)، هداية القاري (1/96)، التجويد المصور (98)، المنير (95).

الدرس Content

Lesson questions

1. الحروف العربية

Introductions

Nūn