فَتْحَة
fatḥa“ba”
بَ
A small diagonal stroke placed above a letter.
Sound: Adds a short 'a' sound — like the 'a' in English 'cat' (but usually a bit more open).
كَتَبَkataba— he wrote
Foundations
Harakāt — the diacriticsالحَرَكَات
Arabic letters on their own are just consonants. The small marks placed above or below them — harakāt and other tashkīl — are what turn those bare consonants into full syllables. The Qur’ān uses full tashkīl throughout, which is why learning these marks is essential before reading a single verse.
Short vowels
The three core vowel marks: fatḥa, kasra, ḍamma.
كَسْرَة
kasra“bi”
بِ
A small diagonal stroke placed below a letter.
Sound: Adds a short 'i' sound — like the 'i' in English 'bit'.
بِسْمِbismi— in the name of
Qur'ān 1:1
ضَمَّة
ḍamma“bu”
بُ
A tiny wāw-shaped mark placed above a letter.
Sound: Adds a short 'u' sound — like the 'u' in English 'put'.
رَسُولُrasūlu— messenger
Hear the three in sequence
ba · bi · buبَba
بِbi
بُbu
Sukūn
The ’no vowel’ mark — stops the consonant.
سُكُون
sukūn“b”
بْ
A small circle above a letter. Marks the letter as vowel-less — just the bare consonant.
Sound: Stops the sound on that consonant; no vowel follows. The letter becomes the end of a closed syllable.
قُلْqul— say!
Qur'ān 112:1
How to read sukūn
A letter carrying sukūn is pronounced as a bare consonant with no vowel sound after it. In Noorani Qaida this is drilled with pairs like بَبْ (bab), بِبْ (bib), بُبْ (bub) — the second letter cuts the syllable clean.
Shadda
The doubling mark — hold the letter.
شَدَّة
shadda“bba”
بَّ
A small letter-shaped mark (like a tiny 'w') placed above a letter. Means the letter is doubled.
Sound: The consonant is pronounced twice — held longer, with emphasis. Treat it as a sukūn on the first instance immediately followed by a vocalized second instance.
رَبِّrabbi— (my) Lord
Qur'ān 1:2
How to read shadda
A shadda doubles the letter — pronounce it twice, with the first instance ending on a sukūn and the second carrying the vowel written above the shadda. بَبَّ is read ba-bba, not just ba-ba.
Tanwīn
Doubled vowel endings that add an -n sound without writing it.
فَتْحَتَان
fatḥatān“ban”
بًا
Two fatḥas stacked. Appears on the final letter of indefinite accusative nouns.
Sound: Pronounced '-an' — the vowel 'a' followed by an 'n' sound that's not written as a letter.
كِتَابًاkitāban— a book
كَسْرَتَان
kasratān“bin”
بٍ
Two kasras stacked below. Appears on the final letter of indefinite genitive nouns.
Sound: Pronounced '-in' — vowel 'i' followed by an unwritten 'n'.
كِتَابٍkitābin— of a book
ضَمَّتَان
ḍammatān“bun”
بٌ
Two ḍammas stacked. Appears on the final letter of indefinite nominative nouns.
Sound: Pronounced '-un' — vowel 'u' followed by an unwritten 'n'.
كِتَابٌkitābun— a book (subject)
When does tanwīn appear?
Tanwīn only appears on the final letter of indefinite nouns and adjectives (the ’a/an’ case). The letter ن is not written — the unwritten ’n’ is implied by the doubled mark. In Qur’ānic manuscripts, tanwīn often interacts with the next word’s first letter through the tajwīd rules (iẓhār, idghām, iqlāb, ikhfā’).
Next step
Once you’re comfortable with the short vowels, learn how they interact with alif / wāw / yā’ to produce the long vowels: Long vowels (Madd).