Ḥafṣ ʿan ʿĀṣim¶

Ḥafṣ ibn Sulaymān al-Kūfī (d. 180 AH / 796 CE) ʿan ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd al-Kūfī (d. 127 AH / 745 CE) — ʿĀṣim took his reading through Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī (from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib) and Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh (from Ibn Masʿūd); Ḥafṣ, ʿĀṣim's stepson and closest student, preserves the lineage of al-Sulamī. This is the riwāyah followed by the overwhelming majority of printed Qurʾans worldwide. See the imām's overview.

Uṣūl¶

Istiʿādhah (الاسْتِعاذة)¶

• Rule: Recited aloud with the standard formula أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ.
• Explanation: Pronounced audibly (jiharan) before beginning recitation; mandatory at the start of a sūrah (other than al-Tawbah) and optional when starting mid-sūrah.
• Example: أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ before بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ ۝ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ.
• Matn: line 95

Basmalah between sūrahs (البَسْمَلة بَين السُّورَتَين)¶

• Rule: Always recites the basmalah when moving from one sūrah to the next.
• Explanation: No option for silence or waṣl between sūrahs; the basmalah is always connected to the beginning of the next sūrah, never left attached to the end of the previous one (the prohibited fourth method).
• Example: … مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ ۝ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ ۝ قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ.
• Matn: line 100

Al-Anfāl to al-Tawbah transition (بَين الأنْفال والتَّوْبة)¶

• Rule: Three options — complete stop (waqf), brief pause without breath (sakt), or direct connection (waṣl) — with no basmalah.
• Explanation: Al-Tawbah has no basmalah at its start, so the standard inter-sūrah basmalah does not apply here.
• Example: end of … وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ (al-Anfāl 8:75) → بَرَاءَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ.
• Matn: line 107

Madd muttaṣil (المَدّ المُتَّصِل)¶

• Rule: 4–5 ḥarakāt.
• Explanation: When a long vowel (alif/wāw/yāʾ) is followed by a hamzah within the same word, the madd is prolonged to four or five counts.
• Example: جَاءَ، السَّمَاءِ، سُوءَ.
• Matn: line 161

Madd munfaṣil (المَدّ المُنفَصِل)¶

• Rule: 4–5 ḥarakāt (tawassuṭ or ṭūl).
• Explanation: When a word ends in a long vowel and the next word begins with a hamzah, the madd is prolonged to four or five counts.
• Example: يَا أَيُّهَا، فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ، قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ.
• Matn: line 161

Madd ʿāriḍ li-l-sukūn (المَدّ العارِض للسُّكون)¶

• Rule: 2, 4, or 6 ḥarakāt.
• Explanation: When stopping on a word ending in a madd letter followed by a letter made sākin by the waqf, all three lengths are permitted.
• Example: stopping on الْعَالَمِينَ، نَسْتَعِينُ.
• Matn: line 161

Madd lāzim (المَدّ اللازِم)¶

• Rule: 6 ḥarakāt.
• Explanation: When a madd letter is followed by an original sukūn or a shaddah, the madd is held for six counts.
• Example: الضَّالِّينَ، the spelled letters مِيم / لَام / صَاد in opening verses.
• Matn: line 177

Madd al-badal (مَدّ البَدَل)¶

• Rule: 2 ḥarakāt (natural madd).
• Explanation: When a long vowel follows a hamzah within a word, it is read short, with no extension.
• Example: آمَنَ، أُوتِيَ، إِيمَانًا.
• Matn: line 171

Madd al-ʿiwaḍ (مَدّ العِوَض)¶

• Rule: 2 ḥarakāt when stopping on tanwīn fatḥah.
• Explanation: At waqf, the tanwīn fatḥah (ـً) is replaced by an alif sound of two counts.
• Example: stopping on كِتَابًا → كِتَابَا.
• Matn: line 171

Madd in the opening letters (ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt) (مَدّ الحُروف المُقَطَّعة)¶

• Rule: 6 ḥarakāt for three-letter-spelled letters; 2 ḥarakāt for two-letter-spelled letters; no madd for alif; ʿayn has 4 or 6.
• Explanation: A letter whose spelling has a madd letter followed by a sākin (e.g. مِيم = mīm-yāʾ-mīm) takes madd lāzim (6); a letter with no sākin after the madd letter (e.g. طَا، هَا، يَا، حَا، رَا) takes natural madd (2); أَلِف has no madd letter; عَيْن permits 4 or 6, with 6 preferred.
• Example: الٓمٓ (6 on lām and mīm), حٰمٓ (2 on ḥā, 6 on mīm), كٓهٰيٰعٓصٓ (ʿayn 4 or 6).
• Matn: line 177

Madd al-līn at waqf (مَدّ اللِّين)¶

• Rule: 2, 4, or 6 ḥarakāt at waqf.
• Explanation: When a sākin yāʾ or wāw preceded by fatḥah falls before a letter made sākin by the waqf, it may be lengthened to two, four, or six counts.
• Example: stopping on خَوْف، الْبَيْت.
• Matn: line 180

Two hamzahs in the same word — taḥqīq (الهَمْزَتان في كَلِمة)¶

• Rule: Both hamzahs pronounced fully (taḥqīq).
• Explanation: No tashīl (softening) or ḥadhf (dropping) of either hamzah when two meet in one word.
• Example: أَأَنْذَرْتَهُمْ — both hamzahs articulated fully.
• Matn: line 183

Tashīl exception — أَأَعْجَمِيٌّ (Q41:44) (التَّسْهيل)¶

• Rule: Ḥafṣ's single use of tashīl in the whole Qurʾan — the first hamzah is dropped and the second is softened (between hamzah and alif).
• Explanation: Everywhere else Ḥafṣ gives full taḥqīq to both hamzahs; here alone he departs from that practice.
• Example: Q41:44 read as أَعْجَمِيٌّ with tashīl of the (originally second) hamzah. (awaiting confirmation — exact phonetic realization)
• Matn: line 185

Hamzah — full taḥqīq (تَحْقيق الهَمْز)¶

• Rule: Full, precise articulation of hamzah in all standard positions.
• Explanation: Ḥafṣ does not soften or transfer the hamzah in continuous reading; it is pronounced clearly as a glottal stop.
• Example: يَأْمُرُ، مُؤْمِنُونَ، الْأَرْضِ — each hamzah fully voiced.
• Matn: line 183

Mīm al-jamʿ (مِيم الجَمْع)¶

• Rule: No ṣilah — the plural mīm is read as a closed mīm sākinah in all positions.
• Explanation: No connecting wāw is added before a following voweled letter; before a sākin the mīm keeps its ḍammah but takes no ṣilah.
• Example: عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ، مِنْهُمْ، بِهِمُ الْأَسْبَابُ — closed mīm throughout.
• Matn: line 111

Hāʾ al-kināyah (هاء الكِناية)¶

• Rule: Standard ṣilah — connect the pronoun hāʾ with a short vowel (wāw if ḍammah, yāʾ if kasrah) only between two voweled letters; no ṣilah after a sākin.
• Explanation: When the hāʾ is preceded by a sākin or followed by a sākin, no connecting vowel is added.
• Example: إِنَّهُ كَانَ (ṣilah → إِنَّهُو كَانَ); لَهُ مَا (ṣilah); but فِيهِ هُدًى (no ṣilah, preceded by sākin yāʾ).
• Matn: line 158

Hāʾ al-kināyah — ṣilah exception فِيهِ مُهَانًا (Q25:69) (هاء الكِناية)¶

• Rule: Ḥafṣ uniquely adds ṣilah to the hāʾ here even though it is preceded by a sākin yāʾ.
• Explanation: Normally a preceding sākin blocks ṣilah; in وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا Ḥafṣ connects the hāʾ anyway (فِيهِي مُهَانًا).
• Example: Q25:69 وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا — ṣilah of the hāʾ.
• Matn: line 918

Hāʾ al-kināyah — iskān words (هاء الكِناية)¶

• Rule: Ḥafṣ reads the pronoun hāʾ with sukūn in فَأَلْقِهْ (al-Naml 28); with sukūn of the qāf and qaṣr of the hāʾ in يَتَّقْهِ (al-Nūr 52, وَمَنْ يَتَّقْهِ); and in يَأْتِهْ (Ṭāhā 20:75) he has two wajh (sukūn or ṣilah).
• Explanation: Note that يُؤَدِّهِۦ، نُوَلِّهِۦ، نُصْلِهِۦ، نُؤْتِهِۦ Ḥafṣ reads with ṣilah (a connecting yāʾ), not sukūn — the sukūn of those belongs to Shuʿbah, Abū ʿAmr, and Ḥamzah (matn 160 صَافِياً حَلَا, which has no ع). فِيهِ مُهَانًا he uniquely gives ṣilah even after the sākin (covered separately above).
• Example: فَأَلْقِهْ إِلَيْهِمْ (sukūn on the hāʾ); يُؤَدِّهِۦٓ إِلَيْكَ (ṣilah).
• Matn: lines 161–162

Idghām kabīr (الإدْغام الكَبير)¶

• Rule: None — every consonant is pronounced distinctly even when an identical or similar voweled consonant follows across a word boundary.
• Explanation: Ḥafṣ does not merge voweled letters across words; each is given iẓhār.
• Example: يَعْلَمُ مَا، الرَّحِيمُ مَلِكِ — both letters pronounced separately.
• Matn: line 116

Idghām of close-articulation pairs (إدْغام المُتَقارِبَين)¶

• Rule: Ḥafṣ reads the nūn of يٰسٓ ۚ وَالْقُرْآنِ and نٓ ۚ وَالْقَلَمِ with iẓhār (clear) — the difference from his fellow rāwī Shuʿbah, who assimilates them. He does assimilate (idghām) the dhāl of اتَّخَذْتُمْ / أَخَذْتُمْ into the following tāʾ, as all reciters do.
• Explanation: Iẓhār of the fawātiḥ nūn is the baseline (shared with Nāfiʿ, Ibn Kathīr, Abū ʿAmr, Ibn ʿĀmir); their idghām is the mark of صُحْبَة (Shuʿbah + Ḥamzah + al-Kisāʾī).
• Example: يٰسٓ ۚ وَالْقُرْآنِ (nūn clear); اتَّخَذْتُمْ → اتَّخَتُّمْ (dhāl assimilated).
• Matn: line 277

Imālah — مَجْرَاهَا (Q11:41) (الإمالة)¶

• Rule: Imālah of the rāʾ and alif in مَجْرَاهَا — Ḥafṣ's only imālah in the entire Qurʾan.
• Explanation: This single word is read with the fatḥah tilted toward kasrah and the alif toward yāʾ; every other alif in the Qurʾan is read with pure fatḥ.
• Example: Q11:41 بِسْمِ اللَّهِ مَجْرَاهَا وَمُرْسَاهَا — imālah on مَجْرَاهَا (degree kubrā vs. ṣughrā awaiting confirmation).
• Matn: line 760

Rāʾ (أحْكام الراء)¶

• Rule: Standard tafkhīm/tarqīq rules — thick with fatḥah/ḍammah (or sākin after them), thin with kasrah (or sākin after kasrah), thick again when a sākin rāʾ after kasrah is followed by an istiʿlāʾ letter.
• Explanation: No special categories beyond the universal rāʾ rules.
• Example: رَبّ (thick), رِزْق (thin), فِرْقٍ (thick — istiʿlāʾ qāf follows).
• Matn: line 349

Lām of the divine name (لام لَفْظ الجَلالة)¶

• Rule: Tafkhīm after fatḥah or ḍammah; tarqīq after kasrah. Regular lām is always tarqīq.
• Explanation: The lām in اللَّه is thick when preceded by fatḥah/ḍammah and thin after kasrah.
• Example: قَالَ اللَّهُ (thick), بِسْمِ اللَّهِ (thin).
• Matn: line 262

Ishmām in تَأْمَنَّا (Q12:11) (الإشْمام)¶

• Rule: Ḥafṣ signals the assimilated ḍammah of the original first nūn by silently rounding/pursing the lips (ishmām) on the mushaddad nūn.
• Explanation: تَأْمَنَّا derives from تَأْمَنُنَا; the two nūns merge, but the lip-rounding marks the hidden ḍammah without producing an audible vowel. (This ishmām/ikhfāʾ is not unique to Ḥafṣ — the matn assigns it لِلْكُلِّ, to all the readers, line 773; it is listed here because Ḥafṣ is the reference reading.)
• Example: Q12:11 لَا تَأْمَنَّا عَلَى يُوسُفَ — silent lip-rounding on the nūn.
• Matn: line 775 (awaiting confirmation — whether this feature is unique to Ḥafṣ or shared)

The Four Saktāt (السَّكَتات الأرْبَع)¶

• Rule: A brief pause without breath (sakt) at exactly four locations.
• Explanation: The reciter holds position momentarily without taking a breath, then continues, creating a deliberate separation between the two words.
• Example: عِوَجًا ۜ قَيِّمًا (Q18:1), مَرْقَدِنَا ۜ هَٰذَا (Q36:52), مَنْ ۜ رَاقٍ (Q75:27), بَلْ ۜ رَانَ (Q83:14).
• Matn: line 832

Yāʾ al-iḍāfah (ياء الإضافة)¶

• Rule: Generally sukūn (iskān) — fewer fatḥ positions than the سَمَا group.
• Explanation: The first-person possessive yāʾ (ي = "my") is mostly read with sukūn; specific words carry fatḥah per the matn's enumeration.
• Example: بَيْتِي، عِبَادِي read with sukūn in most positions.
• Matn: line 387 (awaiting confirmation — per-verse assignments)

Yāʾāt al-zawāʾid (ياءات الزَّوائِد)¶

• Rule: Tends to omit the extra (unwritten) yāʾs.
• Explanation: Where some reciters pronounce a yāʾ not written in the muṣḥaf, Ḥafṣ generally drops it.
• Example: الدَّاعِ (not الدَّاعِي), يَسْرِ (not يَسْرِي).
• Matn: line 420 (awaiting confirmation — per-word assignments)

Waqf — rawm and ishmām (الوَقْف بالرَّوْم والإشْمام)¶

• Rule: As one of the Kūfans, Ḥafṣ may use rawm (barely audible vowel) on ḍammah/kasrah and ishmām (silent lip-rounding) on ḍammah at waqf.
• Explanation: These never apply to fatḥah, nor to hāʾ al-taʾnīth or mīm al-jamʿ; they apply only to permanent vowels.
• Example: stopping on نَسْتَعِينُ with ishmām, or on الرَّحِيمِ with rawm.
• Matn: line 266

Farsh¶

Ḥafṣ's distinctive farsh readings, in muṣḥaf order: each row gives the verse, what Ḥafṣ reads, the contrasting reading of al-bāqūn, a Qurʾānic example, and the matn line. Rows where Ḥafṣ simply follows the majority are omitted. Rows marked (awaiting confirmation) are decoded from the matn but not yet cross-checked against a printed sharḥ.