Colour Qur’aan (Experimental)

A Qur’aan Digital Reading Experience Optimized for Meaning

Demo (With Google Chrome Browser):

https://colourquraan.netlify.app/

TLDR: This is an experimental Qur’aan reading app that visually encodes grammatical meaning within a reading experience. It also allows for a bilingual English-Arabic reading.

Reading the Qur’aan Through Structure: Introducing Colour Qur’aan

Most digital Qur’aan apps focus on presentation: beautiful scripts, recitation, translations. Colour Qur’aan takes a different approach. It focuses on how meaning is constructed through grammar, structure, and language, making those layers visible to you while you read.

Rather than separating reading from study, Colour Qur’aan blends the two, offering both an Arabic colour-coded (not tajweed but grammar!) reading view and a linguistically aware English view. Each mode supports a different stage of understanding, while pointing toward the same goal: deeper engagement with the Qur’aan’s language.

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The Arabic Reading View: Seeing Structure, Not Just Script

In the Arabic reading view, the Qur’an is presented with colour-coded linguistic elements. Words are visually distinguished based on their grammatical or functional role, allowing readers to see patterns as they read.

This view can also display Punctuation (English-translated guided) and Word-by-Word Translations.

Furthermore, display options encode Classical Arabic Grammatical features as visual cues:

• Verb Aspect (Past/Command)

• Verb Form

• Conjugation

• Case Class (▲Nasb / ▽Jarr Or Jazm)

• Verb Voice (↑Passive)

• Derived Noun (⊤Fa’il / ⊥Maf’ool / ∅Masdar)

This helps with:

For Arabic readers, this reveals layers that are often mentally processed but rarely visualized. For learners, it offers a gentle, non-intimidating entry into Qur’anic Arabic without turning the text into a grammar chart.

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The English View: Meaning First, Grammar Made Visible

The English View is not a standard translation. It is designed to encode Qur’aanic grammatical information directly into the English reading experience. Translations alongside the Arabic Phrases can be toggled on/off.

Readers can select a part of speech (POS) (e.g. nouns, verbs, etc.) and for that selected POS:

• The original Arabic word is shown

• All other words remain in English

This creates a layered experience where the reader stays grounded in meaning, while gradually encountering the Arabic language in context.

What This Helps With

• Explicitly converting Classical Arabic grammar into English to aid English readers understanding of how sentences are constructed.

• Maintaining readability: Unlike interlinear translations, the verse still reads smoothly and coherently.

• Building Arabic awareness naturally: Readers begin to recognize Arabic words in grammatical context

• Bridging translation and original text: Arabic appears intentionally, not all at once, making the transition feel accessible.

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One Goal, Two Complementary Paths

Together, the two views support different readers — and different moments of reading:

Arabic View → for pattern recognition, structure, and linguistic awareness

English View → for meaning-first reading with guided exposure to Arabic

Colour Qur’aan is about making the latent grammatical structure of the Qur’an visible, so that reading becomes more intentional, reflective, and informed — whether you start with Arabic, English, or somewhere in between.

Contributions

1. Data is mainly from https://corpus.quran.com