It is one of the requirements of a good recitation that the reciter should stop and start properly. This will affect the meanings understood by the one listening to the recitation as well as the rhythm and the beauty of the recitation.
First of All, A reciter is highly recommended to stop at the end of each Ayah. The prophet, peace and blessings be on him, used to always stop at the end of the Ayat while reading the Quran.
However, there are many Ayat in the Quran that are long, so one cannot recite them in one breath without stopping, so one would need to stop in the middle of the Ayah.
A beautiful stop is a stop after delivering a full meaning. Do not stop short before delivering the full meaning of the sentence you are reciting, so stop at the end of the sentences. That is a good stop. To do this, you would need to know Arabic as a language and understand the meanings of the Ayat. However, scholars did their best and added some marks in the Quran which help you stop and start in an organized way:
| ــۖ | It is permissible to stop or continue and continuing is better. |
| ــۗ | It is permissible to stop or continue and stopping is better. |
| ــۘ | You Must stop here. |
| ــۚ | It is permissible to stop or continue and both are equally good. |
| ــۙ | You must not stop the recitation here. |
| ــۜ | Stopping for a very short time without taking your breath then continuing. |
| ؞ ؞ | Stopping at either of the two marks. |
This way it would be easier for a non-Arab to stop and start properly and sound more natural and beautiful.
On top of that, you are not supposed to learn the Quran Alone, but with a teacher. Listen carefully to your Arab Quran teacher and try to copy him, not just in the pronunciation, but also is stopping and starting.
