Sīn, shīn, ṣād and ḍād

This lesson teaches two pairs of letters. In each pair the two letters have one body, and the second has dots that the first does not.

The letters

Sīn and shīn

Sīn is three small teeth in a row, and alone or at the end of a word, a wide bowl after them that dips below the line. Shīn is the same, with three dots above the teeth.

In a word, the teeth are what you read. They can look like the hooks of bā’, tā’ and thā’ standing together: count the teeth, and look for the dots of each.

Ṣād and ḍād

Ṣād is a long flat closed loop with a small tooth after it, and alone or at the end of a word the same wide bowl as sīn. Ḍād is the same, with one dot above.

The transliteration writes ṣād and ḍād with a dot under the letter, ṣ and ḍ, so as not to confuse them with sīn and dāl.

In the Qur’ān

The first word of this verse has shīn in its middle and sīn at its end. Look at the teeth of each, and at the dots of shīn.

In the sixth verse of al-Fātiḥah, ṣād and sīn each come once.

Recall

• How many teeth does sīn have?
• How do you tell ṣād from ḍād?
• Why does the transliteration write a dot under the letter for ṣād and ḍād?

Answers: three; ḍād has one dot above; so that they are not taken for sīn and dāl.

Next

The next lesson teaches four more letters: ṭā’, ẓā’, ʿayn and ghayn.