بِسْمِ ٱللَّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
After many years of studying Tajweed and studying the traditional poems, I can confidently say there is no shortage in the number of rules we must remember! However, our traditional scholars have made it easier in certain situations by giving us helpful learning aids in the form of Mnemonics.
A mnemonic is a series of letters that make a phrase which is easy to remember. You probably know many in English, such as Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain or My Very Easy Method, Just Simply Using Nine Planets (maybe 8!). The first letter of each word gives you the first letter of each colour of the rainbow and the planets in the Solar System respectively. BODMAS is one used in Mathematics where each letter represents another word. These are Brackets, Order (Powers), Division, Multiplication, Addition & Subtraction. In the traditional poems, both these types of mnemonics are utilised.
Although there are a lot more mnemonics, such as the Rumooz (coding) for each Qari when studying the 10 Canonical Qira’at, I have compiled a list of the most common ones used by scholars all around the world in this blog. After memorising them (even before I knew they were in classical poems!), I always wondered what the meanings behind each of them were and so have included them here. I have studied these poems with different scholars, but these opinions are mainly from when studying with Shaykh Ahmed Sa’ad and also studying the Sharh of Muhammad Saleem Gaibie (may Allah have mercy on them). I hope you all enjoy!
Method: I first mention what the mnemonic is for, then the actual mnemonic, a word by word translation (synonyms are separated by “/” and words are separated with “,”) and then the different meanings of the phrase.
Lunar Letters (Huroof Al-Qamariyyah)
إِبْغِ حَجَّكَ وَخِفْ عَقِيْمَهْ
Desire, Hajj(Pilgrimage), fear, fruitless/unproductive/barren.
Desire to do Hajj and fear that it will not be accepted (ie. take precautions and have intention & sincerity).
Solar Letters (Huroof Ash-Shamsiyyah)
طِبْ ثُمَّ صِلْ رَحْمًا تَفُزْ ضِفِ ذَا نِعَمْ
دَعْ سُوْءَ ظَنٍّ زُرْ شَرِيْفًا لِلْكَرَمْ
Be good, then, join ties, womb/family, success, be hospitable/good host, possessor, favours/bounties.
Leave, bad/evil, thought, visit, distinguished/noble, for honour/generosity.
Be good, then join the ties of kinship and you will be successful. Be hospitable to the possessor of bounties. Leave evil thought. Visit the distinguished for generosity.
Al-Huroof Al-Muqatta’at (Disjoined Letters – 6 harakat)
كَمْ عَسَلٍ نَقَصَ
How(interrogative), honey, diminish/lessen/decrease
How much did the honey decrease?
Al-Huroof Al-Muqatta’at (Disjoined Letters – 2 harakat)
حَيٍّ طَاهِرٍ
Life, pure
A pure & clean life.
Letters of Hams (Voiceless/Whisper)
فَحَثَّهُ شَخْصٌ سَكَتْ
To urge/prompt, individual/person/someone, he remained silent.
Thus someone prompted him (to speak) but he remained silent.
This incident happened when a group entered the court of a king. None spoke and therefore the one prompted the other to speak, but yet he remained silent. *Nihāyah al-Qoul al-Mufīd pg. 48*
Letters of Shidda (Stiff/Hard)
أجِدْ قَطٍ بَكَتْ
I found, Qatt (name of woman), she was crying.
To find, cat, reproach/reprimand.
- A man heard crying from the next room. When he investigated he found his beloved crying and recounted: “I found Qatt crying!” Nihāyah al-Qoul al-Mufīd 48
- I found a cat and told it off.
Letters of Tawassut (Between Rakhawa & Shidda)
لِنْ عُمَرْ
To be soft, ‘Umar.
Due to ‘Umar (RA) being so stern, the Prophet (SAW) is reported to have told him once: “Be soft/lenient, o ‘Umar!” *Sharh Al-Muqaddimah Al-Jazariyyah by Muhammad Saleem Gaibie p52”
Letters of Isti’la (High)
خُصَّ ضَغْطٍ قِظْ
Abode (such as a house or grave), to squeeze/press/narrow, stay/be aware of.
Characteristic/speciality/assigned to, pressure, Heat.
- Stay in a modest home (live in this world like a traveller)
- Be careful of a narrow grave (live Islamically and save yourself)
- Pressure leads to heat.
Letters of Idhlaq (Outward)
فِرَّ مَنْ لُبْ
To run, from, intellect/reasoning/understanding/memory.
- A foolish person who flees from knowledge due to his ignorance.
- To allow something to escape your memory.
Letters of Qalqalah (Echo)
قُطْبُ جَد
Frown/scowl, grandfather.
Grandad frowned.
Letters of Ikhfa (Hiding)
صِفْ ذَا ثَنَا كَمْ جَادَ شَخْصٌ قَدْ سَمَا
دُمْ طَيِّبًا زِدْ فِي تُقًى ضَعْ ظَالِمَا
Describe, possessor, praise, how much, good, a person/individual/someone, was, elevated/high.
Stay, good/pure, increases, in, piety/god-consciousness, leave, oppressor/wrongdoer.
Describe the possessor of praise (Allah). How generous/good is a person who has attained a high status?
Stay good. Increase in Taqwa. Leave an oppressor/wrongdoer.
Letters of the Halq (Throat)
أخِي ھَاك عِلمًا حَازَهُ غَیرُ خَاسِر
Brother, here, knowledge, possession, unlike/without/not, loser.
Brother, here is some information. The possessor of it is not a loser.
N.B. I personally prefer to remember these letters is the following couplet:
هَمْزٌ فَهَاءٌ ثُمَّ عَيْنٌ حَاءُ
مُهْمَلَتَانِ ثُمَّ غَيْنٌ خَاءُ
جزاكم الله خيرا
Armaan K. Ahmed