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In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

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I am very thankful to you dear brethren and I really enjoyed [our session] today.

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The session [is] a very good, diverse, eloquent, beautiful and rich session. Thank God.

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[The fact] that I see, thank God, that every year the signs of progress in recitation of the Quran

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are evident among our youth, [and] among our people,

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gives me profound satisfaction; I thank God.

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Today also, God be praised, thanks to these very good recitations [of the Quran],

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[our session] was a rich, and meaningful, and inspiring session,

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especially with the notice that this creative, and articulate presenter gave us

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about forwarding the [spiritual] reward of these recitations and what took place today in this session,

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to the cleansed souls of the recent martyrs whose funeral was held in Tehran.

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Recitation of the Quran with a pleasant voice and a pleasant tone and according to rites and customs of recitation

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is a prelude to the instillation of the Quranic concepts into the hearts [of the people].

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If we strip it of this benefit

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and look upon recitation of the Quran simply as a [performance with] pleasant voice and a musical reading,

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it will certainly fall from this lofty position.

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This much emphasis that the Quran must be recited with a pleasant voice

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and according to [its correct] rites and with pleasant tone,

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is aimed at [paving the way for] the Quran’s concepts to impact [people’s] hearts; [make us] become intimate with the Quran;

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[and help us] to assume the color of the Quran and the mood of the Quran and the shape of the Quran.

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If this is the purpose, then it has [a certain set of] conditions, [and] has [its own] rites.

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The first of those rites is that the reader of the Quran and the reciter of the Quran

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must recite [the Quran] by acknowledging [the truth of] the Quran,

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[and] by believing in the concepts of the Quran; believing in the concepts that he is reciting.

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If we do not know what we are reading, [if we] do not understand the concept, [and if those concepts] leave no mark on the depth of our souls,

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[then] the impact of our recitation on others and on ourselves would be insignificant. This is the first condition.

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What I ask the esteemed reciters and scholars and readers of the Quran

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to do is to pay attention to this point. Those verses [of the Quran] that they want to recite,

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they [must] review these verses in their minds, think about them,

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record the depths of these concepts correctly in their hearts and in their minds;

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[and then] recite [the Quran] with this spirit, with this background [and] with this readiness.

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Such recitation will influence the depth of souls of the audience.

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Of course, you have greatly advanced up to the present day.

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I have been observing the course of the Quran’s movement in the country for many years;

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today, our young people have progressed very well;

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our reciters, [and] our scholars are truly and fairly very good;

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however, there is still a lot of room to make an even bigger impact.

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I have written down two or three points.

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One [point] is that you aim through your recitation to induce the audience with the Quranic concepts.

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It is true that most of those listening to you do not understand Arabic and the language of the Quran,

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but the miracle of the Quran is for you to induce [your audience with]

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these Quranic verses in this situation – when they do not know [Arabic] – [and] from the depth of your soul and according to [correct] conditions.

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Concepts, even in brief, will be transferred to [people’s] minds.

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Well, this [transfer] has naturally its own conditions.

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I hear recitations that they air on recitation radio

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– which is a good opportunity [and] a good facility for listening to recitations –

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and I hear what our scholars [and] our good reciters read.

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Well, fairly speaking, in terms of pleasant voice, our reciters are very good,  [and] are very prominent.

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These reciters have been, and are being, confirmed by foreigners;

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I have heard from them [foreigners] that they appreciate Iranian voices.

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Some of your voices are, fairly speaking, of good nature, and of good quality

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and enjoy good conditions of a prominent voice, which this should be accompanied with [correct] conditions of recitation.

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One condition for recitation [of the Quran] is that this verse of the Quran that you recite,

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you must certainly emphasis those points on which under normal circumstances

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if you want to make them understood, [you] put emphasis.

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If I wanted to draw a parallel with these eulogist gentlemen who read Persian poems,

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you see that every word, every purpose that is desired from a sentence

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or from a word or from an item,

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they] articulate it in such a manner that the concept is infused into the mind of the audience.

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[This applies to normal talking as well. [Even] when you are talking in a normal way,

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those words whose concepts are prominent from your viewpoint

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– the words that carry those concepts – [you] articulate them with a special stress.

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The Quran must be read in this way; stress on special words;

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articulate sentences and items in such a way that their theme and meaning will be infused into the mind of the audience;

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good interpretation; good articulation.

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Sometimes it is necessary for a topic to be absorbed by audience’s mind

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to repeat a sentence; [in that case] do this repetition.

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Perhaps a few years ago and in this very session, I criticized

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those [reciters] that repeat the [Quranic] verses excessively.

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I want to say that in some places, repetition is certainly necessary, [and] inevitable.

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With one time reading, the meaning is not transferred and it must be repeated.

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Sometimes a verse must be repeated two times, [or] three times.

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Sometimes two verses and three verses must be repeated.

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I don’t mean that extreme measures [must] be taken in this regard.

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I have seen some Egyptian reciters who go to extremes in this regard; it produces a negative impact.

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I do not mean extremes.

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That we repeat something ten times or eight times, this is not desirable.

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Now, perhaps this is usual in Arabic songs,

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but this is not desirable when reading the Quran.

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However, repetition to the extent that [it will help] this concept to be infused into the mind of the audience, is necessary.

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Sometimes you feel that a reciter

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as if has chosen a book without a purpose and is reading it;

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is reading the phrase and follows up on it; this is not good; [this] is not desirable.

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You must transfer the concept and reflect it on the mind of the audience;

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this [task] is sometimes [carried out] through repetition, sometimes through stress,

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sometimes through emphasis on a sentence, [and] sometimes through stress on a word;

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this step must be taken.

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Another point that must be taken into account is to observe the standards of tone.

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Of course, these Arabic tones, [and] these Quranic tones are not familiar for our people [and] for our reciters;

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these are not familiar tones.

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Therefore, you see when they read Persian poems, they read [those poems] with a proper rhythm;

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[however,] if the same person wants to read an Arabic poem or an Arabic sentence,

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they may not be able to select a correct rhythm [because] these tones are unfamiliar for us;

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are not familiar and known tones; [they] are not like Persian tones and Persian rhythms.

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However, the Quranic tones, due to being repeated among the people of the Quran and the people of recitation,

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have by and by become familiar and [people] have come to know them; these tones must be expressed correctly.

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I sometimes hear a reciter, with a pleasant voice, with very good voice,

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a voice that is both of good quality and good strength,

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[which] also enjoys good effect and writing power; [such a reciter] recites a [Quranic] verse,

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but does not observe the tone; to observe the tone, which means [observing] the order of rhythm,

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the thing your recitation is based on [is necessary];

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you do not read the Quran in an ordinary way; [but you] read it with a rhythm.

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Perhaps in all religions

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– now as far as I have seen in some monotheistic and even non-monotheistic religions – they read the sacred scriptures with a rhythm;

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I have seen this up-close.

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Therefore, you do the recitation with rhythm; this rhythm should be expressed correctly.

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The tone must be expressed according to its own standards; otherwise, if it [the standard] is not observed,

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it will certainly not have a desirable effect; [and] sometimes it has [even] the opposite effect.

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I have to say a point. Almost all of you are reciters [of the Quran] who have come here;

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one of those things, which has become rife among Arab reciters – these Egyptians and others –

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and has been reflected in our country from there, is the importance attached to the long breath.

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I don’t understand what the point is;

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it is not necessary for us to connect the words of the Quran, sometimes the [whole] verses together

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because we want to read in a long breath; in my opinion, there is no necessity for this.

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Sometimes, it is necessary and expressing the concept of a verse depends on that it be recited in a single breath.

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Well, [in such cases] they [can] do that;

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otherwise, the beauty of recitation and the effectiveness of recitation is by no means dependent on the long breath,

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which now it is the art of some famous Egyptian reciters to [recite the Quran] with a long breath;

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[and] their audience, when they recite with a long breath, simplistically applaud longer and say Allah, Allah.

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In my opinion both what this [reciter] does is wrong, and what that audience does is wrong.

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Among good Egyptian reciters, prominent Egyptian reciters,

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we have one person or few persons whose breath is short,

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and whose recitation is very good, and whose impact is good;

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including Abdul Fattah Shashaay.

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You know his breath is short, but at the same time, one of the best and most effective recitations [of the Quran]

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–which God willing, the Almighty God would bestow his mercy and forgiveness upon him and all reciters of the Quran

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– is heard from this man.

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Therefore, I ask the gentlemen not to bother themselves with regard to the issue of [the length of the] breath.

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The same is true about addition; repetition of [Quranic] words and verses in tandem is by no means necessary.

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Now since the time is over and they are apparently going to say the prayers call,

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I want to say this word as well. I ask you to set limits for applause

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and saying “Allah, Allah” – which is an imitation of Arabs.

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Some people, as soon as the reciter starts recitation,

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they start following him by chanting “Allah,”

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as if one of the necessary sequels to his recitation is that

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this side must say “Allah!” It is by no means necessary.

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Sometimes you are greatly impressed or [the reciter] recites [the Quran] extremely beautifully

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or extremely effectively, now you involuntarily want to applaud

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– the applause for the Quran [recitation] according to what is customary among Arabs is saying “Allah, Allah”

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of course, they are not special to the Quran; even when they sing an ordinary song, they say “Allah, Allah”

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– now, this is not a problem. However, as soon as reciter starts

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reading [the Quran] and we start from this point to say “Allah, Allah,” is not necessary.

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I ask both yourselves and in sessions where you are heading those sessions

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or take part in them, recommend [the participants] not to go to extremes in saying “Allah, Allah;”

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when the reciter is reading [the Quran] very well,

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is reading very beautifully, there, well, it is no problem to applaud.

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However, [expecting] that [applause must start] from the very beginning [so that] one expects

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[the audience] to say “Allahu Akbar [God is Great]” as soon has he says, “I take refuge with God from the driven Satan,” [this is not correct].

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I hope that God would, God willing, resurrect all of you with the Quran

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and build your world and the Afterworld with the blessing of the Quran.

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Peace be unto you and so may the mercy of Allah and His blessings.