Mashrabaمشربة

المُبْتَدَأ وَالخَبَرTopic and predicate

al-mubtadaʾ wa-l-khabar

Both are nominative. Al-ḥamdu (topic) li-llāhi (predicate): 'praise [is] God's'. In Faṣṣ Ādam: fa-l-amru kulluhu minhu, 'the whole affair is from Him'.

The words behind the terms

Meaning in arrangement

ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī (d. 471/1078) argued that meaning lives in the construction, the relations grammar makes between words (taʿlīq al-kalim baʿḍihā bi-baʿḍ), and not in single words. He called it naẓm, arrangement.

أن لا نظم في الكلم ولا ترتيب، حتى يعلق بعضها ببعض، ويبني بعضها على بعض، وتجعل هذه بسبب من تلك

There is no arrangement in words, and no order, until some are attached to others, some built on others, and this one made to depend on that. Dalāʾil al-iʿjāz, lines 1193–1195 (§48, p. 55) ↗

The meanings of grammarArrangement is grammar at work: he lists eight ways of saying 'Zayd is going', each a different statement.
  1. زَيْدٌ مُنْطَلِقٌZayd is going: news of a going, told of Zayd.
  2. زَيْدٌ يَنْطَلِقُZayd goes: the verb, a going under way, renewed.
  3. يَنْطَلِقُ زَيْدٌGoes Zayd: a verbal sentence; the event comes first.
  4. مُنْطَلِقٌ زَيْدٌGoing is Zayd: the predicate brought forward.
  5. زَيْدٌ الْمُنْطَلِقُZayd is the one going: the going is known; the news is who.
  6. الْمُنْطَلِقُ زَيْدٌThe one going is Zayd: the same two words, the other way round.
  7. زَيْدٌ هُوَ الْمُنْطَلِقُZayd, he is the one going: and no one else.
  8. زَيْدٌ هُوَ مُنْطَلِقٌZayd, he is going: the pronoun sets Zayd apart as the topic.

ليس النظم إلا أن تضع كلامك الوضع الذي يقتضيه علم النحو، وتعمل على قوانينه وأصوله

Arrangement is nothing but setting your speech in the place the science of grammar requires, and working by its laws and principles. Dalāʾil al-iʿjāz, lines 1588–1590 (§75, p. 81) ↗

فينظر في الخبر إلى الوجوه التي تراها في قولك: زيد منطلق و زيد ينطلق، و ينطلق زيد و منطلق زيد، و زيد المنطلق و المنطلق زيد و زيد هو المنطلق، وزيد هو منطلق

So in the predicate he looks to the ways you see in saying: 'Zayd is going', 'Zayd goes', 'Goes Zayd', 'Going is Zayd', 'Zayd is the one going', 'The one going is Zayd', 'Zayd, he is the one going', and 'Zayd, he is going'. Dalāʾil al-iʿjāz, lines 1591–1594 (§75, p. 81) ↗

His whole argument, with word order and ellipsis →

English: AI translation The one-line summaries, the vowels and glosses of the eight sentences are ours (AI); the eight sentences themselves are his (§75), unvowelled in the digital text.

ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī (d. 471/1078), Dalāʾil al-iʿjāz, ed. Maḥmūd Muḥammad Shākir, 3rd ed. (Cairo: Maṭbaʿat al-Madanī; Jeddah: Dār al-Madanī, 1413/1992); § = Shākir's paragraph numbers. Digital text: 0471CabdQahirJurjani.DalailIcjaz.Shamela0012055-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

Reference

What Ibn Ājurrūm saysChapter of the Inchoative (mubtadaʾ) and the Predicate (khabar)

بَابُ الْمُبْتَدَإِ وَالْخَبَرِ

الْمُبْتَدَأُ: هُوَ الِاسْمُ الْمَرْفُوعُ الْعَارِي عَنِ الْعَوَامِلِ اللَّفْظِيَّةِ.

The inchoative (mubtadaʾ) is the noun in the nominative (marfūʿ) that is free from verbal governors (ʿawāmil lafẓiyya).

وَالْخَبَرُ: هُوَ الِاسْمُ الْمَرْفُوعُ الْمُسْنَدُ إِلَيْهِ، نَحْوَ قَوْلِكَ: "زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ" وَ"الزَّيْدَانِ قَائِمَانِ" وَ"الزَّيْدُونَ قَائِمُونَ".

The predicate (khabar) is the noun in the nominative that is attributed (musnad) to it, as in your saying: 'Zayd is standing,' 'the two Zayds are standing,' and 'the Zayds are standing.'

وَالْمُبْتَدَأُ قِسْمَانِ: ظَاهِرٌ وَمُضْمَرٌ.

The inchoative is of two kinds: overt (ẓāhir) and pronominal (muḍmar).

فَالظَّاهِرُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ ذِكْرُهُ.

The overt (ẓāhir) is that whose mention has preceded.

Vowelling and English: Whole chapter and text →

In the classics6 books · disputed · definitions
  • The ĀjurrūmiyyaIbn ĀjurrūmChapter of the Inchoative (mubtadaʾ) and the Predicate (khabar)
  • Qaṭr al-nadāIbn HishāmChapter: The subject (mubtadaʾ) and the predicate (khabar) are both nominative (marfūʿ)
  • The AlfiyyaIbn MālikThe Nominal Sentence: the Mubtadaʾ (Subject) and the Khabar (Predicate) (vv. 113–142)with Ibn ʿAqīl's commentary under each verse
  • Shudhūr al-dhahabIbn HishāmNominative cases: the ten, beginning with the agent
  • Mughnī al-labībIbn Hishāmلولا
  • Sībawayh, al-KitābSībawayhThe predicate and the subject of predicationThe topic (inchoative)
  • DisputedIbn al-Anbārī, al-Inṣāf
    • What makes topic and predicate nominative (Zaydun akhūka)?Kufa: each the other: they raise one another · Basra: the topic by its being a topic (ibtidāʾ); the predicate by that, the topic, or both · he sides with Basra

      Question 5: مسألة القول في رافع المبتدأ ورافع الخبر

      ذهب الكوفيون إلى أن المبتدأ يرفع الخبر والخبر يرفع المبتدأ فهما يترافعان

      KufaThe Kufans held that the topic makes the predicate nominative and the predicate the topic: they raise each other. al-Inṣāf, lines 570–571 (vol. 1, p. 44) ↗

      وذهب البصريون إلى أن المبتدأ يرتفع بالابتداء

      BasraThe Basrans held that the topic is nominative by being a topic. al-Inṣāf, lines 571–572 (vol. 1, p. 44) ↗

      VerdictHe gives the Basran proofs, then answers the Kufans’ arguments one by one; that is how he sides with Basra:

      أما الجواب عن كلمات الكوفيين

      As for the answer to the Kufans' arguments… al-Inṣāf, line 641 (vol. 1, p. 48) ↗

      English: AI translation The summary lines are ours.

      Ibn al-Anbārī (d. 577/1181), al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil al-khilāf bayna al-naḥwiyyīn al-Baṣriyyīn wa-l-Kūfiyyīn, ed. Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr; year not recorded by OpenITI). Digital text: 0577AbuBarakatAnbari.InsafFiMasail.JK001424-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

    • May the predicate come before the topic (qāʾimun Zaydun)?Kufa: no · Basra: yes, a single word or a clause · he sides with Basra

      Question 9: مسألة القول في تقديم الخبر على المبتدأ

      ذهب الكوفيون إلى أنه لا يجوز تقديم خبر المبتدأ عليه مفردا كان أو جملة

      KufaThe Kufans held that the predicate may not be put before the topic, whether a single word or a clause. al-Inṣāf, line 893 (vol. 1, p. 65) ↗

      وذهب البصريون إلى أنه يجوز تقديم خبر المبتدأ عليه المفرد والجملة

      BasraThe Basrans held that it may, both the single word and the clause. al-Inṣāf, line 896 (vol. 1, p. 65) ↗

      VerdictHe gives the Basran proofs, then answers the Kufans’ arguments one by one; that is how he sides with Basra:

      وأما الجواب عن كلمات الكوفيين

      As for the answer to the Kufans' arguments… al-Inṣāf, line 928 (vol. 1, p. 68) ↗

      English: AI translation The summary lines are ours.

      Ibn al-Anbārī (d. 577/1181), al-Inṣāf fī masāʾil al-khilāf bayna al-naḥwiyyīn al-Baṣriyyīn wa-l-Kūfiyyīn, ed. Muḥammad Muḥyī al-Dīn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd (Damascus: Dār al-Fikr; year not recorded by OpenITI). Digital text: 0577AbuBarakatAnbari.InsafFiMasail.JK001424-ara1 (OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9). CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (OpenITI digital text); the classical text is public domain, the modern edition is not.

  • al-Jurjānī, al-Taʿrīfāt · 2 definitions

    • المبتدأ: هو الاسم المجرد عن العوامل اللفظية مسندا إليه، أو الصفة الواقعة بعد ألف الاستفهام، أو حرف النفي رافعة لظاهر، نحو: زيد قائم، وأقائم الزيدان، وما قائم الزيدان.

      The subject [al-mubtadaʾ]: the noun stripped of verbal governing agents [al-ʿawāmil al-lafẓiyya], being that of which something is predicated [musnadan ilayhi]; or the adjective occurring after the interrogative alif or a negative particle, putting an overt noun in the nominative [rāfiʿa li-ẓāhir]; as zaydun qāʾimun 'Zayd is standing', a-qāʾimun al-zaydāni 'Are the two Zayds standing?', and mā qāʾimun al-zaydāni 'The two Zayds are not standing'.

      OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 3941

    • الخبر: لفظ مجرد عن العوامل اللفظية مسند إلى ما تقدمه، لفظا نحو: زيد قائم، أو تقديرا نحو: أقائم زيد، وقيل: الخبر ما يصح السكوت عليه.

      The predicate [al-khabar]: a word stripped of verbal governing agents [al-ʿawāmil al-lafẓiyya], predicated of what precedes it, either overtly [lafẓan], as zaydun qāʾimun 'Zayd is standing', or by assumption [taqdīran], as a-qāʾimun zaydun 'Is Zayd standing?'. It is also said: the predicate [al-khabar] is that upon which it is proper to fall silent [yaṣiḥḥu al-sukūt ʿalayhi].

      OpenITI · Taʿrīfāt, line 1958

Arabic texts from OpenITI (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0); English titles and translations are AI. All the classics →

Further reading2 works