هذا بند العقد.

Because this is a nominal sentence in Arabic. In the present tense, Arabic usually does not use a separate word for is / am / are.

So:

هذا بند العقد
literally: this clause/provision of-the-contract
natural English: This is the clause/provision of the contract.

If you wanted was, Arabic would use a verb, for example كان.

هذا means this and is the singular masculine demonstrative.

It comes first here because the sentence is built like:

هذا = this
بند العقد = the thing being identified

So the structure is basically:

This = the clause/provision of the contract.

This is a very common Arabic pattern: هذا كتاب = This is a book
هذه سيارة = This is a car

Because بند is a masculine singular noun, and the demonstrative must match it.

• هذا = this, for masculine singular
• هذه = this, for feminine singular

Since بند is masculine, Arabic says:

هذا بند

not

هذه بند

This is an iḍāfa construction, often called a genitive construction or annexation.

It is made of two nouns:

• بند = clause / provision / article
• العقد = the contract

Together, they mean:

بند العقد = the contract’s clause/provision or the clause/provision of the contract

In an iḍāfa:

1. the first noun comes first
2. the second noun explains or possesses the first
3. the second noun is in the genitive case

So العقد is the noun that completes the meaning of بند.

Because in an iḍāfa, the first noun normally does not take الـ.

So Arabic says:

بند العقد

not

البند العقد

That is one of the key rules of iḍāfa. The first noun also does not take tanwīn in this structure.

Compare:

• بندٌ = a clause/provision
• بندُ العقدِ = the clause/provision of the contract

Once بند enters the iḍāfa, it loses tanwīn and does not take الـ.

Grammatically, it is definite, because the second part of the iḍāfa is definite:

العقد = the contract

When the second noun in an iḍāfa is definite, the whole phrase becomes definite:

بند العقد = the clause/provision of the contract

So strictly speaking, this phrase is not the same as a clause of the contract. If you want that meaning more clearly, Arabic often uses:

بندٌ من العقد = a clause/provision from the contract / a clause of the contract

In fully vocalized MSA, it would be:

هذا بَنْدُ العَقْدِ

Here is why:

• هذا is an indeclinable demonstrative
• بندُ is the predicate of the sentence, so it is nominative
• العقدِ is the second term of an iḍāfa, so it is genitive

Also notice:

• بند does not take tanwīn here because it is the first term of an iḍāfa
• in normal unvocalized writing, these short vowels are usually not written

So learners often just see:

هذا بند العقد

A careful pronunciation is roughly:

hādhā bandu l-ʿaqdi

A few notes:

• هذا = hādhā
• بند = band
• العقد = al-ʿaqd

The difficult part is ع. It is a consonant that does not exist in English. It is produced deep in the throat. Many beginners approximate it at first, and that is normal.

Also, in العقد, the l of الـ is pronounced clearly, because ع is a moon letter, not a sun letter.

So it is:

al-ʿaqd

not something like aʿ-ʿaqd.

Grammatically, بند العقد is definite, so the more literal reading is:

This is the clause/provision of the contract.

However, in translation, English sometimes sounds more natural with a clause/provision of the contract, depending on context.

If Arabic really wants to express one clause among several, a clearer form is:

هذا بندٌ من العقد

So:

• هذا بند العقد = more literally This is the clause/provision of the contract
• هذا بندٌ من العقد = This is a clause/provision of the contract

Yes, and that is often very natural.

The difference is:

• هذا بند العقد = This is the clause/provision of the contract

  • an iḍāfa
  • grammatically definite

• هذا بندٌ من العقد = This is a clause/provision from the contract or of the contract

  • not an iḍāfa
  • usually understood as one item among others

So if you mean one clause from a larger contract, هذا بندٌ من العقد may be the clearer choice.

In legal or formal contexts, بند often means something like:

• clause
• provision
• article
• item

The exact English choice depends on context and on how the document is organized. In contracts, provision or clause is often the best translation.

So even if the general meaning is already clear, it is good to know that بند is a common formal/legal word, not just an everyday noun.