أَحَدُهُمَا: مُسْنَدٌ إِلَيْهِ، وَيُسَمَّى الْمُبْتَدَأَ.
Translation: One is the element to which a statement is attributed; it is called the mubtadaʾ.
The musnad ilayh is what the sentence speaks about. In «زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ», the statement concerns Zayd, so «زَيْدٌ» is the mubtadaʾ. Grammatical function, not merely first position, determines the role.
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Mubtadaʾ and Khabar — Definition and Foundational Rules
أَحَدُهُمَا: مُسْنَدٌ إِلَيْهِ، وَيُسَمَّى الْمُبْتَدَأَ.
Translation: One is the element to which a statement is attributed; it is called the mubtadaʾ.
The musnad ilayh is what the sentence speaks about. In «زَيْدٌ قَائِمٌ», the statement concerns Zayd, so «زَيْدٌ» is the mubtadaʾ. Grammatical function, not merely first position, determines the role.