Free printable

Printable Noorani Qaida Chart

All 28 Arabic letters in their four forms, with harakat, tanween, sukoon and shaddah, laid out to print on one A4 sheet.

Choose Print / Save as PDF, then pick A4 and, if you like, “Save as PDF” as the destination. Page 1 is the letters; page 2 is the vowel marks and practice.

Noorani Qaida Chart: the 28 Arabic letters

Letters in Qaida order, each in its four written forms

Arabic letters 1 to 14 with their isolated, initial, medial and final forms
Number#	Name	Isolated	Initial	Medial	Final
1	Alif	ا	ا	‍ا	‍ا
2	Ba	ب	ب‍	‍ب‍	‍ب
3	Ta	ت	ت‍	‍ت‍	‍ت
4	Tha	ث	ث‍	‍ث‍	‍ث
5	Jeem	ج	ج‍	‍ج‍	‍ج
6	Haa	ح	ح‍	‍ح‍	‍ح
7	Khaa	خ	خ‍	‍خ‍	‍خ
8	Dal	د	د	‍د	‍د
9	Dhal	ذ	ذ	‍ذ	‍ذ
10	Ra	ر	ر	‍ر	‍ر
11	Zay	ز	ز	‍ز	‍ز
12	Seen	س	س‍	‍س‍	‍س
13	Sheen	ش	ش‍	‍ش‍	‍ش
14	Saad	ص	ص‍	‍ص‍	‍ص

Arabic letters 15 to 28 with their isolated, initial, medial and final forms
Number#	Name	Isolated	Initial	Medial	Final
15	Daad	ض	ض‍	‍ض‍	‍ض
16	Taa	ط	ط‍	‍ط‍	‍ط
17	Zaa	ظ	ظ‍	‍ظ‍	‍ظ
18	Ayn	ع	ع‍	‍ع‍	‍ع
19	Ghayn	غ	غ‍	‍غ‍	‍غ
20	Fa	ف	ف‍	‍ف‍	‍ف
21	Qaf	ق	ق‍	‍ق‍	‍ق
22	Kaf	ك	ك‍	‍ك‍	‍ك
23	Lam	ل	ل‍	‍ل‍	‍ل
24	Meem	م	م‍	‍م‍	‍م
25	Noon	ن	ن‍	‍ن‍	‍ن
26	Ha	ه	ه‍	‍ه‍	‍ه
27	Waw	و	و	‍و	‍و
28	Ya	ي	ي‍	‍ي‍	‍ي

Six letters (Alif, Dal, Dhal, Ra, Zay, Waw) do not join to the letter after them, so their initial form looks like the isolated form and their medial form looks like the final form.

Harakat, tanween, sukoon and shaddah

Examples use the letter Ba (ب). The sound shown is a guide; your teacher will model the exact pronunciation.

Vowel and other marks used in Noorani Qaida, with examples
Mark	Example	Sounds like	What it does
Fatha (فتحة)	بَ	ba	A short "a" sound. A small slanted stroke above the letter.
Kasra (كسرة)	بِ	bi	A short "i" sound. A small slanted stroke below the letter.
Damma (ضمة)	بُ	bu	A short "u" sound. A small waw-shaped mark above the letter.
Fathatan (تنوين فتح)	بً	ban	Tanween: a doubled fatha, adds an "n" sound at the end of a word.
Kasratan (تنوين كسر)	بٍ	bin	Tanween: a doubled kasra, adds an "n" sound at the end of a word.
Dammatan (تنوين ضم)	بٌ	bun	Tanween: a doubled damma, adds an "n" sound at the end of a word.
Sukoon (سكون)	اَبْ	ab	A small circle: the letter carries no vowel and joins the sound before it.
Shaddah (شدة)	رَبَّ	rabba	The letter is doubled: pronounced twice, first without a vowel, then with one.

Long vowels (madd)

The three long vowel patterns, with examples
Pattern	Example	Sounds like	What it does
Alif after fatha	بَا	baa	Stretches the "a" sound.
Ya sakinah after kasra	بِي	bee	Stretches the "i" sound.
Waw sakinah after damma	بُو	boo	Stretches the "u" sound.

Practice: every letter with fatha, kasra and damma

Read each box left to right: a, i, u. Say it aloud, then check with your teacher.

اَ اِ اُ
بَ بِ بُ
تَ تِ تُ
ثَ ثِ ثُ
جَ جِ جُ
حَ حِ حُ
خَ خِ خُ
دَ دِ دُ
ذَ ذِ ذُ
رَ رِ رُ
زَ زِ زُ
سَ سِ سُ
شَ شِ شُ
صَ صِ صُ
ضَ ضِ ضُ
طَ طِ طُ
ظَ ظِ ظُ
عَ عِ عُ
غَ غِ غُ
فَ فِ فُ
قَ قِ قُ
كَ كِ كُ
لَ لِ لُ
مَ مِ مُ
نَ نِ نُ
هَ هِ هُ
وَ وِ وُ
يَ يِ يُ

How to use the Noorani Qaida chart

The Noorani Qaida is the usual first step for anyone learning to read the Quran in Arabic. It starts with the letters, then adds the vowel marks, and only then moves on to joined words. This chart puts the first of those steps on one sheet you can keep beside you.

Start with the isolated column. Say the name of each letter, and look for the dots: Ba, Ta and Tha share one shape and differ only by the dots. Then move to the other three columns to see how the same letter looks at the start, in the middle and at the end of a word.

Then add the vowels. On page 2, read each letter with fatha, kasra and damma. Once those feel easy, try tanween, sukoon and shaddah. Short sessions of ten to fifteen minutes a day are easier to keep up than one long session a week.

Sounds such as the throat letters and the heavy letters are hard to learn from print alone. A teacher can hear the small differences and correct them early, which is why our classes are live and one-to-one. When you are ready to go beyond the letters, our Tajweed and Hifz classes are the next steps, and the tajweed cheat sheet is a good companion.

Frequently asked questions

How many letters are in the Arabic alphabet?

There are 28 letters. This chart lists them in the usual Noorani Qaida order, from Alif to Ya, with the name of each letter.

Why does each letter have four forms?

Arabic is written joined up. A letter changes shape depending on whether it stands alone (isolated), starts a word (initial), sits in the middle (medial) or ends a word (final). The chart shows all four so you can recognise a letter wherever it appears.

Which letters do not join to the next letter?

Six letters never join to the letter after them: Alif, Dal, Dhal, Ra, Zay and Waw. Their initial form looks the same as their isolated form, and their medial form looks the same as their final form.

What are fatha, kasra and damma?

They are the three short vowel marks, called harakat. Fatha (a small stroke above the letter) gives an "a" sound, kasra (a small stroke below) gives an "i" sound and damma (a small waw-like mark above) gives a "u" sound.

What do tanween, sukoon and shaddah mean?

Tanween is a doubled vowel mark that adds an "n" sound at the end of a word. Sukoon is a small circle meaning the letter has no vowel. Shaddah means the letter is doubled and pronounced twice.

Can this chart teach me to read the Quran on my own?

It is a useful reference, but the sounds of the letters and the exact places they are pronounced from are best learned by listening to a teacher and being corrected. A free trial class with a teacher is a good way to start.

Learn with a teacher, one-to-one

A chart or a planner helps, but correct pronunciation comes from a teacher who can hear you. Book a free trial class (no card required) or message us with any question. Paid classes are settled by bank/wire transfer after the free trial.

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