Ejaculations, or responses, are made at certain places. For example, at the end of the Sūratu ʾl-Fātiḥah (i.) and of the Sūratu ʾl-Baqarah (ii.), say, “Amen!” At the end of the Sūratu Banī Isrāʾīl (xvii.), say, “God is great!” After the last verse of the Sūratu ʾl-Qiyāmah (lxxv.), say, “Is He not powerful enough to raise the dead? Say, Yes, for He is my Lord Most High!” At the end of the Sūratu ʾl-Mulk (lxvii.), say, “God brings it (clear water) to us and He is Lord of all the Worlds!”
In addition to responses to be made after each Sūrah, or Chapter, there are certain ejaculations to be made after certain verses, for example, after the sixteenth verse of the third Sūrah, “There is no God but He, the Mighty, the Wise!” say, “I am a witness to this!”
There are fourteen verses known as the Ayātu ʾs-Sajdah, after which a prostration is made. They are [Sūrahs vii. 205]; [xiii. 16]; [xvi. 51]; [vii. 109]; [xix. 59]; [xxii. 19]; [xxv. 61]; [xxvii. 26]; [xxxii. 15]; [xxxviii. 24]; [xli. 38]; [liii. 62]; [lxxxiv. 20]; [xcvi. 18].
There are numerous instructions given as to pronunciation, and there have arisen seven schools of pronunciation, which are known as those of the Qurrāʾu ʾs-Sabʿah, or “seven readers” (for a list of these readers, see [QARI]). It is considered quite lawful to recite the Qurʾān according to the pronunciation established by any one of these seven worthies.
There are many marks and symbols on the margin of an Arabic Qurʾān. Mr. Sell, in his Ilm i Tajwid, gives them in detail. (Ilm i Tajwid, Keys & Co., Madras, 1852.) The symbol for full stop is o, when the reader should take breath. The word سكنة is written when a slight pause is made, but no breath taken. There are also signs which are known as waqf, or pause. They were originally of five kinds, but many more have been added in modern times. They are distinguished by letters and words. [[WAQF].]
There are twenty-nine Sūrahs of the Qurʾān which begin with certain letters of the alphabet. These letters, the learned say, have some profound meaning, known only to the Prophet himself, although it seems probable that they are simply marks recorded by the amanuensis.
(1) Six Sūrahs begin with the letters Alif, Lām, Mīm. الم ALM, viz. Sūrahs al-Baqarah ([ii.]), Ālu ʿImrān ([iii.]), al-ʿAnkabūt ([xxix.]), al-Rūm ([xxx.]), Luqmān ([xxxi.]), as-Sajdah ([xxxii.]). Golius thinks that they probably stand for Amr li-Muḥammad, “At the command of Muḥammad,” and to have been written by the amanuensis. Jalālu ʾd-dīn as-Suyūt̤ī says that Ibn ʿAbbās said that they stood for Anā ʾllāhu aʿlimu, “I, God, know” (that this is true). Al-Baiẓāwī thinks A stands for “Allāh,” L for “Gabriel,” and M for “Muḥammad.” Mr. Sale gives the meaning as Allāhu Lat̤ifun Majīdun, “God is gracious and exalted”; others have suggested Allāhu li-Muḥammad, “God to Muḥammad.” But the general belief is that the letters have a hidden meaning.
(2) At the commencement of Sūratu ʾl-Aʿrāf ([vii.]), there is Alif, Lām, Mīm, Ṣād. المص ALMṢ, which may mean: A, “Anā”; L, “Allāh”; M, “Raḥmān”; Ṣ, “Ṣamad”; i.e. “I am God, the Merciful, the Eternal.”
(3) The Sūratu ʾr-Raʿd ([xiii.]) begins with the letters Alif, Lām, Mīm, Rā. المر ALMR, which al-Baiẓāwī takes to mean, A, “Anā”; L, “Allāhu”; M, “Aʿlimu”; R, “Arā.” “I, God, both know and see.”
(4) Five Sūrahs begin with Alif, Lām, Rā. الر ALR, which some understand to mean Amara lī Rabbī, “My Lord hath said to me,” or Anā ʾllāhu arā, “I, God, see.” These Sūrahs are Yūnus ([x.]), Hūd ([xi.]), Yūsuf ([xii.]), Ibrāhīm ([xiv.]), al-Ḥijr ([xv.]).