Nahw · syntaxSyntactic rolecore term8,206+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Mubtada · Khabar · Subject and predicate · Mubtada-Khabar
In one line
The predicate — the part that completes the statement about the mubtada, in raf'.
Classical definition
الخَبَرُ هُوَ الاسْمُ المَرْفُوعُ المُسْنَدُ إِلَيْهِ.
“The khabar is the raf'-state noun that is predicated of the mubtada (the information ascribed to it).”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
الْمُسْنَد إِلَيْهِascribed to it — stated about the subject
Understand it
The khabar is what you say about the subject. It carries raf' to agree with the mubtada, and may be a single word, a prepositional phrase, or a whole sentence.
How to spot it
Recognition test
In a nominal sentence, the piece that completes the meaning of the mubtada is the khabar.
In the Qur'an
وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Al-Baqarah 2:173 — “And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful”
غَفُورٌ is the khabar of the mubtada ٱللَّهُ, in raf'.
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
What can serve as khabar?
Four forms: a single ism (اَللهُ أَكْبَرُ), a phrase such as an idafa (مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللهِ), a jarr phrase or adverb (اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ), or a whole sentence — in which case the verb inside it matches the mubtada in BOTH gender and number: الْمُعَلِّمُونَ دَخَلُوا.
When does the khabar come first?
When the mubtada is indefinite and the khabar is a jarr phrase or adverb, the khabar must come forward: لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ — “no fear is upon them”. A jarr phrase can only ever be the news, never the topic.
Domain: Nahw · Category: Syntactic role · Frequency in the Qur'an: 8,206 · Source: الآجرّومية, cross-checked against the Quranic corpus · Reviewed by Ustad M. Arjan Ali