Nahw · syntaxSyntactic rolecore term5,922+ in the Qur'an
Also written: Mubtada · Khabar · Subject and predicate
In one line
The subject of a nominal sentence — the noun you start with, in raf'.
Classical definition
المُبْتَدَأُ هُوَ الاسْمُ المَرْفُوعُ العَارِي عَنِ العَوَامِلِ اللَّفْظِيَّةِ.
“The mubtada is the raf'-state noun free of any expressed governor.”
(الآجرّومية)
Key words in the Arabic
الْعَارِي عَنْbare of, free from
الْعَوَامِل اللَّفْظِيَّةexpressed governors — no word caused its raf'
Understand it
Arabic can build a complete sentence from two nouns with no verb. The first, what you are talking about, is the mubtada — always in raf'. The second completes the thought (the khabar).
How to spot it
Recognition test
At the start of a verb-less sentence, the noun you are making a statement about is the mubtada, in raf'.
In the Qur'an
ٱللَّهُ نُورُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ
An-Nur 24:35 — “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth”
ٱللَّهُ is the mubtada in raf'; نُورُ is its khabar.
Don't confuse it with
The mubtada (subject) is paired with the khabar (predicate); together they are the two pillars of the nominal sentence.
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 is the difference between the mubtada and the fa'il?
Both are in raf', but they live in different sentence types: the mubtada opens a nominal sentence and is what the sentence is about; the fa'il follows a verb in a verbal sentence and is who did the action.
Why must the mubtada normally be definite?
Communication starts from the known — you announce news about something your listener can identify. When Arabic does need an indefinite starting point, it flips the order and leads with the khabar instead.
Domain: Nahw · Category: Syntactic role · Frequency in the Qur'an: 5,922 · Source: الآجرّومية, cross-checked against the Quranic corpus · Reviewed by Ustad M. Arjan Ali