Tajweed · Lesson
Qalqalah · The Bounce
Five strong letters get a little bounce — a clear echo — whenever they carry a sukoon, so they ring out instead of getting stuck.
Try the bounce → Jump to practice Part of the Tajweed letter-rules seriesStart here
Qalqalah (القَلْقَلَة) means a bounce or echo. Five letters are so “strong” — the sound is fully stopped and voiced — that when they carry a sukoon they would get stuck silent. So we release them with a quick bounce, letting the letter ring clearly without adding any vowel.
The qalqalah letters share two traits: shiddah (the sound stops completely) and jahr (the voice is full, no breath escapes). With a sukoon, neither breath nor voice can release them — so a tiny bounce sets them free.
It is a vowel-less echo: not a fat-ha, kasra, or damma — just a clean bounce.
The five letters
Each letter is shown with two examples: a lighter bounce when it sits in the middle of a word, and a stronger bounce when you stop on it at the end.
قُطْبُ جَدٍّ — ق ط ب ج د
Two degrees
How big the bounce is depends on where the sukoon letter sits. Tap each level to open it.
Clean bounce — “aḥad” with a quick echo on the د. The sound springs and stops.
Don’t add a vowel. The bounce is neutral — never lean it toward a fat-ha, kasra, or damma.
Your turn
Each word has a qalqalah letter. Is it a minor bounce (in the middle) or a major bounce (stopping at the end)?
Keep it close
| Level | When | Bounce | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sughra الصُّغْرَى |
A qalqalah letter with a sukoon in the middle of a word. | Lighter | خَلَقْنَا · يَدْخُلُونَ · أَطْعَمَ |
| Kubra الكُبْرَى |
A qalqalah letter at the end of a word that you stop on. | Stronger | أَحَدْ · الفَلَقْ · مُحِيطْ |
The five qalqalah letters: ق ط ب ج د — collected in قُطْبُ جَدٍّ.