Rumūz al-awqāf رموز الاوقاف (Stop signs)
Stop signs (rumūz al-awqāf) are symbols used in Quran to guide when to stop and when not to. The importance of this can be understood in the following example:
In English if some one says:
- ‘Let us eat, baba’. You are telling your father to eat together
- ‘Let us eat baba’. You are saying to eat baba – yikes!
OR
- Maryam finds inspiration in cooking, her family and her cat
- Maryam finds inspiration in cooking her family and her cat – Looks like Maryam is cooking her cat
Just like comma is guiding where to stop, similarly the rumūz al-awqāf guides in Quran so that the meanings don’t change. Some of these are:
- مـ compulsory stop.
- قلي stopping advised.
- ج stop permitted if desired.
- صلي stopping not advised.
- لا do not stop.