Nahw · syntaxClause/structurecore term2+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Nominal sentence · Jumla Ismiyya · Ismiyyah · Jumlah Ismiyyah
In one line
A sentence built from two nouns and no verb: the mubtada names the topic, the khabar completes the news.
Classical definition
الجُمْلَةُ الاسْمِيَّةُ مَا صُدِّرَتْ بِاسْمٍ، وَتَتَكَوَّنُ مِنَ المُبْتَدَأِ وَالخَبَرِ.
“The nominal sentence is that which begins with a noun; it is made up of the mubtada' and the khabar.”
(بتصرف من ابن هشام)
Key words in the Arabic
صُدِّرَتْ بِاسْمٍopened with a noun
الْمُبْتَدَأ وَالْخَبَرtopic + statement
Understand it
Arabic can build a complete sentence from two nouns and no verb at all — the nominal sentence. The first part, the mubtada, is what you are talking about; the second, the khabar, is what you say about it, and both sit in the rafa' state. “Allah is one” needs no word for “is” — the two nouns placed side by side are the whole sentence.
How to spot it
Recognition test
The sentence leads with a noun or pronoun that no verb governs: mubtada in rafa', then a khabar — a single word, a clause, or a shibh jumla — completing the sense.
In the Qur'an
ٱللَّهُ نُورُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ
An-Nur 24:35 — “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth”
Two nouns, no verb: ٱللَّهُ is the mubtada, نُورُ the khabar — both in rafa'.
Don't confuse it with
اَلْبَيْتُ الْكَبِيرُ (both definite) is a phrase — “the big house”; اَلْبَيْتُ كَبِيرٌ (definite + indefinite) is a complete sentence — “the house is big”. One tanwin is the entire difference.
Related terms
▶ Watch the lessons
From the free course The Language of Quran — Easier than English (Book 1) (LoQ1), taught by Ustad Muhammad Arjan Ali.
Common questions
How can a sentence be complete without a verb?
Arabic needs no present-tense “is”: a definite topic followed by an indefinite description, both in raf', is itself the assertion — which is why translations of nominal sentences always add a word that is not in the original.
Domain: Nahw · Category: Clause/structure · Frequency in the Qur'an: 2 · Source: بتصرف من ابن هشام, cross-checked against the Quranic corpus · Reviewed by Ustad M. Arjan Ali