Grammar term · I'rab · Word order
Fronted (muqaddam)
muqaddam
مُقَدَّم
I'rabWord ordercore term
In one line
A muqaddam (مُقَدَّم) is 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.”
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 — “Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.”
The object إِيَّاكَ stands before its verb — maf'ul bih muqaddam — and the fronting is the very meaning: 'You ALONE'.
Study this ayah word by word →Related terms
الْجُمْلَة الِاسْمِيَّة · al-jumla al-ismiyya
اَلْخَبَر · khabar
مُؤَخَّر · mu'akhkhar
اَلْمُبْتَدَأ · mubtada'
Common questions
Does moving a word forward change the meaning?
It changes the emphasis, which is a kind of meaning. Arabic word order is freer than English because the endings carry the roles — so bringing a word ahead of its slot is available as a rhetorical choice rather than forced by grammar.
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