Tajweed of Surah Al-‘Asr, Al-Kawthar and An-Nasr (Verse by Verse)

Surah Al-‘Asr, Surah Al-Kawthar and Surah An-Nasr are three of the shortest surahs in the Quran — each has only three verses. Because they are so short, many people recite them in every prayer. That also makes them perfect for practising tajweed: a few verses, but many rules.

This guide goes through each surah verse by verse, in the recitation of Hafs from ‘Asim.

Rules you will meet

Surah Al-‘Asr (103)

1. وَالْعَصْرِ (103:1)

• ع is a moon letter, so the lam is heard: wal-‘asr.
• ص is a heavy letter.
• When you stop, the ra has a sukoon. The letter before it (ص) also has a sukoon, so you look one more letter back: the ع has a fatha, so the ra is heavy.

2. إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ (103:2)

• إِنَّ: noon with shaddah — ghunnah of 2 counts.
• الْإِنسَانَ: the noon sakinah before س is ikhfa — partly hide it.
• خُسْرٍ: kha is heavy. When you stop, the ra is heavy, because the letter before the sukoon has a damma.

3. إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ (103:3)

• إِلَّا الَّذِينَ: the alif of illa is not lengthened, because a sukoon follows: illal-ladhina.
• آمَنُوا: a hamza followed by a long vowel is madd badal — 2 counts.
• وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ: the waw is not lengthened before the sun letter ص: wa ‘amilus-salihat.
• بِالْحَقِّ: if you pause here, the qaf has a shaddah and a sukoon — the strongest qalqalah.
• بِالصَّبْرِ: the ب has a sukoon, so it gets a light qalqalah. When you stop, the ra is heavy (the ص before the ب has a fatha).

Surah Al-Kawthar (108)

1. إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ (108:1)

• إِنَّا: ghunnah on the noon, then the alif is followed by a hamza in the next word — madd munfasil, 4 or 5 counts.
• أَعْطَيْنَاكَ: ع from the middle of the throat; ط heavy.
• الْكَوْثَرَ: ك is a moon letter. When you stop, the ra is heavy (the ث before it has a fatha).

2. فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ (108:2)

• فَصَلِّ: ص heavy, then the lam with shaddah.
• لِرَبِّكَ: the ra has a kasra, so it is light.
• وَانْحَرْ: noon sakinah before ح is izhar — say the noon clearly. When you stop, the ra is heavy.

3. إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ (108:3)

• إِنَّ: ghunnah.
• شَانِئَكَ: the alif is followed by a hamza in the same word — madd muttasil, 4 or 5 counts.
• الْأَبْتَرُ: the ب has a sukoon — light qalqalah. When you stop, the ra is heavy.

Surah An-Nasr (110)

1. إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ (110:1)

• جَاءَ: alif followed by a hamza in the same word — madd muttasil, 4 or 5 counts.
• نَصْرُ اللَّهِ: the lam of Allah comes after a damma, so it is heavy.
• وَالْفَتْحُ: ف is a moon letter. When you stop, make the ح clear and deep.

2. وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا (110:2)

• النَّاسَ: ن is a sun letter, and the noon has a shaddah — ghunnah.
• يَدْخُلُونَ: the د has a sukoon — light qalqalah.
• دِينِ اللَّهِ: the lam of Allah comes after a kasra, so it is light.
• أَفْوَاجًا: when you stop, the tanween fatha becomes a long a: afwaja.

3. فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا (110:3)

• بِحَمْدِ: the meem sakinah before د is read clearly (izhar shafawi).
• رَبِّكَ: ra with fatha — heavy.
• وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ: the ra has a sukoon after a kasra — light.
• إِنَّهُ كَانَ: the ha is between two vowels, so it is lengthened lightly — 2 counts: innahu kana.
• تَوَّابًا: when you stop, tawwaba with a long a.

Common mistakes

• Light ra at the end of al-‘asr, khusr, al-kawthar and wanhar. All of them are heavy when you stop.
• Short madd in jaa'a and shani'aka. They need 4–5 counts.
• No qalqalah on al-abtar and bis-sabr.
• A plain h instead of ح in wanhar, al-fath and bihamdi.

Related guides

For more surah guides, see the three Quls, Surah Al-Fatiha and Ayat al-Kursi. For the rules themselves, read about heavy and light letters, qalqalah and madd, or keep our free printable tajweed chart next to you.