Laam Shamsiyyah vs. Laam Qamariyyah: 14 Sun & Moon Letters Chart for Kids

Look at the very first page of the Holy Quran—Surah Al-Fatihah—and count how many times the Arabic definite article الـ ("The") appears across just seven verses: اللَّهِ، الرَّحْمَٰنِ، الرَّحِيمِ، الْحَمْدُ، الْعَالَمِينَ، الدِّينِ، الصِّرَاطَ، الْمُسْتَقِيمَ، الَّذِينَ، الْمَغْضُوبِ، الضَّالِّينَ! On Page 1 alone, your tongue encounters Laam at-Ta'reef more than a dozen times.

Yet when children and adult beginners first transition from learning individual letters in our Noorani Qaida vs. Noor Al-Bayan Reading Curriculum to reciting connected Quranic words, two classic mistakes happen. Either the student pronounces the silent Laam in Ar-Rahmaan and reads it clumsily as "Al-Rahmaan" ❌ and "Al-Shams" ❌; or they accidentally merge the Moon Laam in Al-Jannah and read it as "Aj-Jannah" ❌! Just as we simplified the 8 cases of heavy and light Raa in our Complete Ahkam Al-Raa Tajweed Guide, this guide gives you and your child the complete 14 Sun & 14 Moon Letters Master Charts, the phonetic secret behind why they behave differently, and the 2-second visual shortcut in the Uthmani Mushaf.

1. What Is "Laam At-Ta'reef" (الـ), and Why Does It Split Into Sun & Moon Letters?

In Arabic grammar—as we explain in our Quranic Arabic Grammar Guide and our Interactive Tajweed Encyclopedia—an indefinite noun like كِتَابٌ (Kitaabun — "a book") becomes definite when we attach the prefix الـ (Al- — "the book" = الْكِتَابُ). In Tajweed scholarship, this silent Laam Sakinah is called لَامُ آلِ التَّعْرِيفِ (Laam Al-Ta'reef).

Why Did the Arabs Pronounce "Al-" in Some Words and Merge It in Others? The answer lies directly in our Makharij al-Huruf (Articulation Points of Arabic Letters) Guide:

• 🌙 1. Distance Causes Clear Pronunciation (Izhar Qamari — إِظْهَارٌ قَمَرِيٌّ): The letter Laam (ل) exits from the front edge and tip of the tongue touching the upper gums. Whenever the first letter of the noun exits far away from the tongue tip—such as from the throat (أ هـ ع ح غ خ), the lips (ب م و ف), the deep/middle tongue (ق ك ج ي)—your tongue has plenty of space to tap the Laam clearly before articulating the next letter!
• ☀️ 2. Closeness Causes Complete Assimilation (Idgham Shamsi — إِدْغَامٌ شَمْسِيٌّ): Whenever the first letter of the noun is Laam itself (ل) or one of the 13 other letters that exit right next to the Laam on the tip/edges of the tongue (ت ث د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ن), lifting the tongue twice in the exact same spot feels heavy and awkward—so the silent Laam merges 100% into its neighbor, which then takes a Shaddah (ـّ)!

2. Part 1: The 14 Moon Letters (Laam Qamariyyah / Izhar Qamari) & The 4-Word Mnemonic

In Verse 24 of his famous Tajweed poem Tuhfat al-Atfal, Imam Sulayman Al-Jamzuri gathered all 14 Moon Letters into a single, meaningful 4-word Arabic sentence that every Tajweed student memorizes in 10 seconds:
« ابْغِ حَجَّكَ وَخَفْ عَقِيمَهُ » (Ibrigh Hajjaka wa Khaf 'Aqeemah — "Seek your Hajj, and fear that which invalidates it/makes it fruitless!")
Open our Online Uthmani Quran Explorer and trace all 14 Moon Letters in the master chart below:

3. Part 2: The 14 Sun Letters (Laam Shamsiyyah / Idgham Shamsi) & Quranic Examples

The remaining 14 letters of the Arabic alphabet are the Sun Letters (الْحُرُوفُ الشَّمْسِيَّةُ)—gathered by Imam Al-Jamzuri as the first letter of each word in his poetic couplet: طِبْ ثُمَّ صِلْ رَحِمًا تَفُزْ ضِفْ ذَا نِعَمْ • دَعْ سُوءَ ظَنٍّ زُرْ شَرِيفًا لِلْكَرَمْ. Even easier for kids and beginners: notice that the 14 Sun Letters consist of 6 sibling pairs + 2 neighbor letters (ل and ن)! Trace all 14 below:

4. The 2-Second Uthmani Mushaf Visual Trick (How Kids Spot the Rule Instantly!)

Here is the best news for parents and teachers using our 1-on-1 Online Kids Quran Classes and our Islamic Reward Charts for Kids: when reading from the standard Madinah / Uthmani Mushaf, your child does not even need to pause and count the 28 letters in their head! The scholars of Mushaf calligraphy (Dabt al-Mushaf) placed a built-in visual traffic light on every single الـ in the Quran:

5. Five Common Tajweed Mistakes With Laam Qamariyyah & Laam Shamsiyyah

Before you practice reading today in our 1-on-1 Online Tajweed Course, watch out for these five classic pronunciation traps explained in our Sifaat al-Huruf Guide and Heavy & Light Letters Guide:

1. 1. Accidentally Merging the Moon Laam Into "Jeem" (الْجَنَّةِ • الْجِبَالُ • الْجَحِيمِ):
   Because the middle-tongue letter Jeem (ج) is articulated fairly close to the front palate in some dialects, many reciters accidentally turn الْجَنَّةِ (Al-Jannah) into a Sun Laam ("Aj-Jannah" ❌)! Remember the mnemonic Ibrigh Hajjaka: ج is a Moon Letter, so always pronounce the Laam clearly first!
2. 2. Forgetting the 2-Beat Nasal Ghunnah When the Sun Letter Is "Noon" (النَّاسِ • النُّورُ • النَّارِ):
   As we learned in our Noon Sakinah & Tanween Guide and Meem Sakinah Guide, when the Laam Shamsiyyah merges into the letter Noon (ن), it produces a Noon Mushaddadah (نّ)! Therefore, in words like بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ (Bi-Rabbin-nnnaas) and النَّجْمُ, you must hold a rich 2-beat nasal Ghunnah on the Noon!
3. 3. Making the Moon Laam Heavy Before a Heavy Letter (الْقَمَرُ • الْخَبِيرُ • الْغَفُورُ):
   In Arabic Tajweed, the only Laam that ever becomes heavy is the Laam in the Majestic Name اللَّهُ (Allaah) after a Fatha or Damma. Every other Laam—including the Moon Laam in الْقَمَرُ (Al-Qamar) and الْبَاطِلُ (Al-Baatil)—must remain 100% Light (Tarqeeq)!
4. 4. Pronouncing the Hamzatul-Wasl (ا) in the Middle of Connected Speech:
   Whether a word has a Sun Laam or a Moon Laam, the initial Alif of الـ is a Hamzatul-Wasl: you only pronounce it as "A-" when starting on that word (Al-Hamdu), and you drop it completely when connecting from a previous word (e.g., بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ = Bismil-laahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem, and رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ = Rabbil-'Aalameen)!
5. 5. Shortening the 6-Beat Madd Lazim Before a Sun Laam (آلْآنَ • آلذَّكَرَيْنِ • آللَّهُ):
   As we explained in our Rules of Madd in Tajweed, when a question Hamzah (أَ) enters upon a Sun or Moon word in the 3 famous Quranic words آلذَّكَرَيْنِ (6:143–144), آلْآنَ (10:51, 91), and آللَّهُ (10:59, 27:59), you stretch it for 6 full beats (Madd Lazim) (or apply Tashil) so the question is never confused with a statement!

Practice spotting Sun and Moon Letters today across our most popular Surah guides—starting with Surah Ad-Duha (Sun Laam!) & Ash-Sharh (Sun Laam!), The 3 Quls (Al-Ikhlas & Al-Falaq = Moon Laams; An-Nas = Sun Laam with Ghunnah!), Ayatul Kursi (Al-Hayyu Al-Qayyoom = Moon Laams!), Last 2 Verses of Surah Al-Baqarah (Ar-Rasoolu = Sun Laam; Al-Mu'minoon = Moon Laam!), Surah Ar-Rahman (Sun Laam!), Surah Al-Waqi'ah (Moon Laam!), Surah Ya-Sin, Surah Maryam, Surah Yusuf, Surah Luqman, Surah Al-Hujurat (Moon Laam!), and Surah As-Sajdah (Sun Laam!) & Al-Insan (Moon Laam!)! You will also encounter dozens of Sun and Moon words in our Top 50 High-Frequency Quranic Words, Morning & Evening Adhkar, 40 Rabbana Duas, Wudu & Tayammum Guide, Sujood As-Sahw Guide, Salat Al-Istikharah Guide, Salat Al-Janazah Guide, 5 Pillars of Islam, and 25 Prophets in the Quran! Whether you are learning with our Al-Azhar Certified Tutors in our Online Hifz Program (using our Smart Hifz Planner) or printing our Free Kids Star Chart, see how families across the West rate our teachers on our Verified Student & Parent Reviews Page.

6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Laam Shamsiyyah & Laam Qamariyyah