Grammar term · Nahw · syntax
مُقَدَّم
muqaddam
Fronted (muqaddam)
Nahw · syntaxOperationcore term1,311+ in the Qur'an
In one line
Fronted: a word moved ahead of its natural slot — usually for emphasis or restriction: إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ, 'You ALONE we worship'.
Classical definition
التَّقْدِيمُ جَعْلُ الكَلِمَةِ فِي صَدْرِ الكَلَامِ وَهِيَ تَسْتَحِقُّ التَّأْخِيرَ، لِغَرَضٍ كَالاهْتِمَامِ.
“Fronting is placing a word at the head of the speech when it deserves a later position, for a rhetorical purpose such as restriction or emphasis.”
(بتصرف من ابن هشام)
Key words in the Arabic
تَسْتَحِقُّ التَّأْخِيرَdeserves the later slot
لِغَرَضٍfor a purpose
Understand it
Arabic's word order is meaningful, so breaking it means something: put the object before the verb and the sentence narrows to it alone — إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ is not 'we worship You' but 'You alone we worship'. Khabar before mubtada, jarr phrase before fa'il — each fronting carries emphasis, restriction, or focus. In i'rab the moved word keeps its role with the tag مُقَدَّم: خبر مقدم، مفعول به مقدم.
How to spot it
Recognition test
A sentence-part appearing before what normally precedes it — object before verb, khabar before mubtada: parse it in its ORIGINAL role and add muqaddam; then ask what the fronting emphasises.
In the Qur'an
إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ
Al-Fatihah 1:5 — “You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help”
The object إِيَّاكَ stands before its verb — maf'ul bih muqaddam — and the fronting is the very meaning: 'You ALONE'.
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