The rules behind the readings
Most of what looks like disagreement in the tables is not word-by-word variation at all. It is a handful of systematic rules — أصول — that a reader applies everywhere their conditions are met.
Learn that Warsh lengthens madd al-badal and you have accounted for hundreds of cells at once. That is why the author deletes any row whose only difference is one of prolongation: once you know the rule, restating it is noise.
Everything here is written for someone who has not read the Arabic manuals. Where a symbol appears on a variant in the tables, you can click it and land on the rule.
30 rules across 9 chapters · 19 collated from the printed source
Seeking refuge & the basmalah
باب الاستعاذة والبسملةHow a recitation is begun, and what happens at the seam between two sūrahs.
Prolongation
باب المد والقصرHow long a vowel is held. The single largest source of audible difference between the readings.
Natural prolongation
المد الطبيعيal-madd al-ṭabīʿī
The baseline length of a long vowel — two counts, for everyone.
Collated from the printed sourceSeparated prolongation
المد المنفصلal-madd al-munfaṣil
A long vowel at the end of a word followed by a hamzah at the start of the next — length varies from 2 to 6.
Collated from the printed sourceConnected prolongation
المد المتصلal-madd al-muttaṣil
A long vowel and a following hamzah inside the same word — at least 4 for everyone.
Collated from the printed sourceSubstitute prolongation
مد البدلmadd al-badal
A hamzah *before* a long vowel — 2 for everyone except Warsh.
Collated from the printed sourceObligatory prolongation
المد اللازمal-madd al-lāzim
A long vowel followed by a permanently vowelless letter — 6 counts, no disagreement.
Collated from the printed sourceProlongation for a pause
المد العارض للسكونal-madd al-ʿāriḍ li-l-sukūn
A long vowel before a letter made vowelless only because you stopped — 2, 4 or 6, for all.
Collated from the printed sourceSoft-letter prolongation
مد اللينmadd al-līn
A vowelless و or ي after a fatḥah, before a pause.
Collated from the printed source
The glottal stop
أبواب الهمزWhether hamzah is pronounced cleanly, softened, replaced by a vowel letter, or moved onto the letter before it.
Softening the hamzah
●التسهيلal-tashīl
Pronouncing hamzah halfway between a true glottal stop and a vowel.
Standard doctrine — not yet checked against the sourceReplacing the hamzah
◆الإبدالal-ibdāl
Turning hamzah into a long vowel matching the vowel before it.
Collated from the printed sourceTransferring the vowel
⌂النقلal-naql
Moving the hamzah's vowel back onto the vowelless letter before it, then dropping it.
Standard doctrine — not yet checked against the sourceFull articulation
حالتحقيقal-taḥqīq
Giving the hamzah its complete, unsoftened sound.
Standard doctrine — not yet checked against the sourceBrief pause
سالسكتal-sakt
Cutting the sound for an instant without taking a breath.
Collated from the printed source
The pronoun hāʾ & the plural mīm
باب هاء الكناية وميم الجمعTwo very common suffixes — ـهُ / ـهِ and ـهُمْ / ـكُمْ — whose vowelling and length differ by reader.
Minor connection
ۥۦالصلة الصغرىal-ṣilah al-ṣughrā
The pronoun hāʾ given a short vowel-glide — 2 counts.
Collated from the printed sourceMajor connection
ۥۦالصلة الكبرىal-ṣilah al-kubrā
The same glide, but before a hamzah — so it lengthens like a separated madd.
Collated from the printed sourceThe pronoun hāʾ
ۥۦهاء الكنايةhāʾ al-kināyah
The suffix meaning 'his/its' — whether it takes a glide, and how long.
Per-reader detail still to be collatedThe plural mīm
ميم الجمعmīm al-jamʿ
The ‑m of ‑hum / ‑kum: silent, or given a ḍammah and a w-glide.
Collated from the printed source
Vowel inclination
باب الفتح والإمالةTilting a long ā toward ē, wholly or partially.
Full inclination
مالإمالة الكبرىal-imālah al-kubrā
Tilting a long ā decisively toward ē.
Collated from the printed sourceSlight inclination
قالتقليلal-taqlīl
The same tilt, but only halfway.
Standard doctrine — not yet checked against the sourceOpen vowel
فالفتحal-fatḥ
Leaving the ā fully open — no tilt at all.
Standard doctrine — not yet checked against the sourceInclining the feminine hāʾ on pause
مفإمالة هاء التأنيثimālat hāʾ al-taʾnīth
al-Kisāʾī tilts the feminine ending when stopping — with ten letters excepted.
Collated from the printed source
Assimilation
أبواب الإدغام والإظهارWhen a letter merges into the one after it, and when it stays distinct.
Major assimilation
الإدغام الكبيرal-idghām al-kabīr
Merging two identical or close letters even when both carry vowels — al-Sūsī's signature.
Collated from the printed sourceAssimilation without nasalisation
د.غالإدغام بلا غنةal-idghām bilā ghunnah
Merging n into a following l or r with no nasal hum.
Standard doctrine — not yet checked against the source
Rāʾ and lām
باب الراءات واللاماتWhether these two letters are said heavy or light.
The letter rāʾ
الراءاتal-rāʾāt
Whether rāʾ is said heavy or light.
Per-reader detail still to be collatedThe letter lām
اللاماتal-lāmāt
Whether lām is said heavy, chiefly in the name of God.
Per-reader detail still to be collatedBlending ṣād toward zāy
شمإشمام الصاد زاياًishmām al-ṣād zāyan
Pronouncing ṣ with a trace of z — a different rule that shares the name ishmām.
Collated from the printed source
Pausing
باب الوقف على أواخر الكلمWhat happens to the final letter of a word when you stop on it.
The yāʾ suffixes
باب ياءات الإضافة والزوائدTwo classes of final yāʾ — the possessive ‑ī, and the yāʾ some readers restore that the muṣḥaf does not write.