Chain joins fully
No non-connector in the word.
مَكْتَب
maktab (office)
م + ك + ت + ب
Mīm, kāf, tā’, and bā’ are all connectors. Every letter attaches to the next, producing one continuous glyph chain.
Foundations
Connecting lettersحُرُوف الاتِّصَال
Arabic is a cursive script: letters within a word usually join together in a continuous stream. But six letters never attach to the letter that follows them. When one of these six appears inside a word, the chain breaks and the next letter starts over in its initial form.
The six non-connectors
Memorise these six letters. They never attach on the left (the following letter always starts fresh).
األفalif
ددالdāl
ذذالdhāl
رراءrā'
ززايzāy
وواوwāw
A useful mnemonic: alif, dāl, dhāl, rā’, zāy, wāw — the letters that “sit alone and let the next letter start again”.
Chain breaks at a non-connector
Non-connector highlighted in gold.
رِضَا
riḍā (contentment)
ر ‖ ض + ا
Rā’ is a non-connector, so ḍād that follows must start in its initial form (as if opening a fresh word). Then ḍād does connect to alif — but alif is also a non-connector, ending the chain there.
Try it yourself
Pick letters, watch them join
Up to 6 letters. Non-connectors break the chain.كتاب
ك→ت→ا‖ب
Samples:
Tap a letter to add it
Why does this matter for reading the Qur’ān?
Muṣḥaf pages are densely calligraphic — two words can look almost glued together. Recognising where non-connectors force a visual break is one of the first skills that lets a reader parse a word correctly at a glance.
Related: See all 28 letters. The 6 non-connectors are marked on every alphabet card.(ا · د · ذ · ر · ز · و)