Question

In ayah 73 in surah al-Baqarah

there is the word:  . If one had to stop on this word how would we say it? 

Answer

The word   has two  at the end of the word, but the second is not written. This doesn’t mean the second  doesn’t exist.  The Arabs did not usually write two of the same letter next to each other.  It was something that was not liked in writing, and it was understood by all that there were two of the letter, even though one was written.  When stopping however, this second  is employed and the word ends with two , the first with a kasrah, the second with a sukoon.  We know that when a  saakinah is preceded by a kasrah there is a two count lengthening, or natural lengthening, so when we stop on this word, we have this natural medd as the last letter.  In this example from aayah 73 of surah al-Baqarah, the word  is followed by a sukoon in the glorious name    so when reading in continuum, the normal case in this aayah, the second  is therefore not pronounced. 

In other aayaat in the Qur’an where this same word     is not followed by a sukoon, the second  is written in as a small one. This was an addition made by scholars of Qur’anic writing so that those not familiar with this Arabic tradition of not liking two of the same letter being written next to each other would know that a second    was present and pronounced.  An example can be found in aayah 24 of surah Ar-Room: .  The little symbol that is similar to a lesser than sign (<) in math is the second added .