Noon Saakinah and Tanween: Definitions and Rules

Islam > Quran > Tajweed > Noon Saakinah and Tanween: Definitions and Rules

The definition of the noon saakinah

It is the noon free of any vowel, established in pronunciation and in writing, in connected speech (wasl) and in pausing (waqf); it occurs in nouns, verbs and particles, and it can be medial or final.

It can be original, belonging to the construction of the word, as in "أنعم"; and it can be added to the root of the word and to its construction, as in "فانفلق", the root of whose verb is "فَلَقَ" on the pattern "فَعَلَ"¹.

The definition of the tanween

It is an added noon saakinah that attaches to the end of the noun in pronunciation and in connected speech, and from which it differs in writing and in pausing; its mark: two fathahs, or two kasrahs, or two dammahs.

Its ruling in case of pausing: the two fathahs are always substituted by an alif, unless they occur on a haa of femininity, as in: إِلَّا رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ in al-Isra, upon which one pauses with the haa without tanween; as for the two dammahs and the two kasrahs, the tanween is dropped from them and one pauses on them with a sukoon, except in the saying of the Most High: وَكَأَيِّنْ where this occurred, for they wrote it with a noon².

The presence of the meem of iqlaab with one of the three vowels must not confuse us; for it stands in place of the second vowel of the tanween.

The difference between the noon saakinah and the tanween

The difference between the noon saakinah and the tanween lies in five points that appear upon reflecting on their definitions, here they are:

1. The noon saakinah is an original letter among the letters of the alphabet, and it can be one of the added letters, as we illustrated above; as for the tanween, it can only be added to the construction of the word.
2. The noon saakinah is established in pronunciation and in writing; as for the tanween, it is established in pronunciation without the writing.
3. The noon saakinah is established in connected speech and in pausing; as for the tanween, it is established in connected speech without pausing.
4. The noon saakinah occurs in nouns, verbs and particles; as for the tanween, it occurs in nouns alone.

   Excepted from this is the noon of light emphasis (noon at-tawkeed al-khafeefah), which occurred in only two positions in the Quran, here they are: وَلِيَكُونًا مِنَ الصَّاغِرِينَ ¹, لَنَسْفَعًا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ ²; for it is a noon and not a tanween, because of its attachment to the verb; and although it is not established in writing nor in pausing like the tanween, it is thus a noon saakinah resembling the tanween³.

5. The noon saakinah can be medial and final; as for the tanween, it can only be final.

The noon saakinah and the tanween have four rules, here they are:

1. Izhaar
2. Idghaam
3. Iqlaab
4. Ikhfa

The imam Ibn al-Jazari alluded to these rules in his saying:

وحكمُ تنوينٍ ونونٍ يلفى ... إظهار إدغام وقلب إخفا

The discussion of the ruling of each of them will come in detail.