Tafkheem and tarqeeq of the ra: remarks

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Remarks on the ra

The first: the basic rule (asl) in the ra is tafkheem; that is why Imam al-Shatibi alluded to it saying:

وفيما عدا هذا الذي قد وصفته ... على الأصل بالتفخيم كن متعملا

On this verse, the scholarly emir Sheikh Ali Muhammad al-Dabba' says in his commentary of the Shatibiyya: that is: act upon the basic rule, which is tafkheem, for everything other than the causes of tarqeeq established for you in this chapter; for tarqeeq is contrary to the basic rule¹. End of quotation.

It has also been said that the basic rule for the ra is tafkheem according to the majority of the scholars (jumhur), because of the resting of the tongue upon it¹.

The second: know that the tarqeeq of the ra and its tafkheem may rest on the consideration of the ra in itself, without what precedes it or what follows it, such as the tarqeeq of the ra carrying a kasra and the tafkheem of the ra with a fatha or carrying a damma².

At times, it rests on the consideration of the ra together with what precedes it, without what follows it, such as the tafkheem of the ra sakin in the middle of the word after a fatha or a damma.

And in some cases, it rests on the consideration of the ra together with what precedes it and what follows it, such as the tarqeeq of the ra sakin with an original sukun after a kasra followed by a letter of istifaal.

Likewise, it may rest on the consideration of the ra and of what follows it, without what precedes it, such as the tafkheem of the ra that is sakin after a kasra and after which there is in its word a letter of isti'aalah.

Imam Ibn al-Jazari says in the chapter on the ras:

ورققِ الرَّاءَ إذا ما كُسِرتْ ... كذاك بعد الكسرِ حيث سكنتْ
إن لم تكن من قبل حرفِ استعلا ... أو كانت الكسرةُ ليستْ أصلا
والخلفُ في فرقٍ لكسرٍ يوجدُ ... وأَخْفِ تكريرًا إذا تُشدَّدُ

"Lighten the ra when it carries a kasra... likewise after a kasra, when it is sakin / provided there is not before it a letter of isti'aalah... or the kasra is not original / and the divergence exists for firq, because of a kasra... and conceal the repetition when it is mushaddad".

And the author of "La'ali al-Bayan" says in the chapter on tarqeeq and tafkheem:

حروفَ الاسْتِفَالِ حَتْمًا رَقِّقِ ... والعلو فخم سيما في المطبقِ
أعلاه في كطَائفٍ فصَلي ... فالغُرفات فاقْترب فظِلا
واللام في اسم الله حيثما أتت ... من بعد فتحةٍ وضمٍّ غُلظتْ
والراءُ رُققت إذا ما سَكَنتْ ... من بعد وصل كسرة تأصلتْ
ولم تكن من قبل فتح استعلا ... متصلٍ ورق فرق أعلى

ورققت مكسورة وفخمتْ ... في الوقف وهْو راجح إذ كسرتْ
ما لم تكن بعد سكون يا ولا ... كسر وساكن استفال فَصَلا
ورق رَا يَسْر وأسر أحرى ... كالقِطر مع نُذُرِ عكس مصْرَ
والرَّوْمُ كالوصلِ وتتبع الألف ... ما قبلها والعكس في الغنِّ أُلف

"The letters of istifaal: lighten them imperatively... and the letters of elevation: emphasize them, especially the mutbaqa ones / the highest of them in ka-ta'ifin, fa-salli... fa-l-ghurafat, fa-qtarib, fa-zhila / and the lam of the name of Allah, wherever it comes... after a fatha or a damma, is emphasized / and the ra is lightened when it is sakin... after the wasl of an original kasra / provided there is not before it an attached fatha of isti'aalah... and lighten firq, and a'la / it is lightened carrying a kasra, and emphasized at a stop, which is preferable when it carries a kasra / unless there is, after the sukun, a ya... or a kasra and a sakin of istifaal: fa-sala / lighten the ra of yasr and of asr, that is safer... like al-qitr with nudhur, the opposite of Misr / and rawm has the ruling of wasl; and the alif follows what precedes it... and the opposite for the ghunnah: the alif".