Arabic Small High Lam Alef

Keep reciting into the words that follow.

The Medina Mushaf, a printed Qurʾan edition, uses ۙ for lā waqf, the Arabic no-stop cue. After the marked word, continue the phrase instead of ending the recitation.

What if someone sends ۙ by itself?

Alone, it is an incomplete recitation mark.

In a Qurʾanic passage, ۙ belongs with the reading guidance for the word it follows. If it arrives alone, ask for the surrounding Arabic text; outside that setting, a font or input problem is also possible.

The mark belongs to a wider pause system

Qurʾanic waqf—the practice of marking where recitation pauses or continues—was taught orally until the third Hijri century (in the Islamic calendar), when the guidance began to be written down. Symbolic systems appeared later; a system associated with the recitation scholar al-Sajawandi became widely used in the sixth Hijri century. ۙ guides reading; it is not a word to pronounce.

Related signs ۘ, ۚ and ۛ handle other pause choices in this system. A 2022 comparison of Indonesian and Madinah muṣḥafs (printed Qurʾan editions) found differences in both the marks used and where they appeared. In Indo-Pak notation, another style used in Qurʾan editions, the corresponding no-stop sign sits below the line.