How long should one pause at the pause marks in the Holy Qur’an?

The pause marks are later reading aids and do not come from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw). Whoever understands the meaning pauses where and for as long as the sense requires.

Many editions of the Holy Qur’an contain small marks. They show where one should stop, where one may stop and where it is better to read on. These marks were not set by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw). Teachers of recitation added them much later.

The reason was understandable. As more and more people who did not speak Arabic accepted Islam, along with Arabs who spoke a different dialect, they needed help to pause in the right places. So the marks are a reading aid, not part of the revelation. This is also clear from the fact that some editions printed in the Arab world contain them, while others do almost entirely without them.

Whoever understands the meaning of the Holy Qur’an and is absorbed in it while reading will pause correctly on their own. Sometimes they read on where a mark suggests stopping, because the thought only completes itself later. Sometimes they pause where there is no mark at all, because the beauty of a verse moves them.

The marks are mainly useful for beginners, and even for them only to a degree. Those who do not yet know the meaning can follow them. More important, however, is learning to understand the sense. The verses above invite us to read slowly and to reflect on what we read. Then the right pause comes almost by itself.