الحظ مهم.

A common pronunciation is:

al-ḥaẓẓu muhimmun

In normal unvowelled writing, you see:

الحظ مهم

If fully vowelled, it would usually be written:

الحَظُّ مُهِمٌّ

A few pronunciation notes:

• الـ = al-
• ح = a strong, breathy h sound from deeper in the throat than English h
• ظ = an emphatic z / dh-like sound; in Modern Standard Arabic, many learners approximate it as a dark or emphatic z
• The ّ on ظ and م means the consonant is doubled:
  • حظّ = ḥaẓẓ
  • مهمّ = muhimm

So the rhythm is roughly:

al-ḥaẓẓu mu-him-mun

In Arabic, the present tense of to be is usually not written or spoken in simple sentences like this.

So:

• الحظ مهم literally looks like luck important
• but it means Luck is important

This is very normal in Arabic. In the present tense, Arabic often just places the subject and predicate next to each other.

Compare:

• الولد طويل = The boy is tall
• الكتاب جديد = The book is new
• الحظ مهم = Luck is important

If you wanted a past or future meaning, then Arabic would use a verb such as كان:

• كان الحظ مهمًّا = Luck was important

Yes, الحظ literally includes the definite article الـ, so word-for-word it is the luck.

But Arabic often uses the definite article with abstract nouns or general concepts where English uses no article. So:

• الحظ مهم = Luck is important
• not necessarily The luck is important

This is a very common difference between English and Arabic.

In Arabic, the definite article can be used for a whole concept in a general sense. So الحظ here means luck as an idea or phenomenon.

Because مهم here is not an adjective directly modifying الحظ inside a noun phrase. It is the predicate of the sentence.

This is an important distinction:

1. Predicate sentence

• الحظ مهم
• Luck is important

Here:

• الحظ = the topic / subject
• مهم = what is being said about it

In this structure, it is normal for the subject to be definite and the predicate to be indefinite.

2. Noun + adjective phrase

If you wanted to say the important luck, then the adjective would need to match in definiteness:

• الحظ المهم

Here المهم has الـ because it is truly an adjective modifying الحظ.

So:

• الحظ مهم = Luck is important
• الحظ المهم = the important luck

Yes, مهم is basically an adjective meaning important, but in this sentence it functions as the predicate.

So it is still an adjective in form and meaning, but grammatically it is being used as the second part of a nominal sentence:

• الحظ = subject/topic
• مهم = predicate

This is very common in Arabic. Adjectives are often used as predicates:

• الجو جميل = The weather is nice
• البيت كبير = The house is big
• الحظ مهم = Luck is important

In fully vocalized Classical/Standard Arabic, the sentence is:

الحَظُّ مُهِمٌّ

That gives:

• الحظُّ = nominative, with -u
• مهمٌّ = nominative, with -un

Why nominative?

Because in a simple nominal sentence like this:

• the subject (المبتدأ) is nominative
• the predicate (الخبر) is also nominative

In everyday printed Arabic, these short vowel endings are usually omitted, so you normally just see:

الحظ مهم

Because both words contain a shadda sound, even if the text is not fully vowelled.

In الحظ

The final letter is ظ, and the full form is:

• حَظّ

That means the ظ is doubled: ḥaẓẓ

In مهم

The final م is doubled:

• مُهِمّ

So it is pronounced mu-himm, not just mu-him

The shadda is important because it changes pronunciation and is part of the correct word form.

The letter ظ is one of the more difficult Arabic sounds for English speakers.

A practical learner answer is:

• pronounce it somewhat like a heavy or emphatic z
• keep the tongue fairly forward
• make it sound darker/thicker than a normal z

In careful traditional pronunciation, ظ is distinct from ز, ذ, and ض, but in many modern accents the exact realization varies.

For learning Modern Standard Arabic, a reasonable approximation is:

• حظ ≈ ḥazz with a dark/emphatic quality

That is usually better than ignoring the sound completely.

Yes. In الحظ, the ل of الـ is pronounced.

That is because ح is a moon letter, not a sun letter.

So:

• الحظ = al-ḥaẓẓ
• not aḥ-ḥaẓẓ

This is different from words with sun letters, such as:

• الشمس = ash-shams, where the l is not pronounced

Since ح is a moon letter, you clearly say the l in al-.

For the basic, neutral sentence, الحظ مهم is the normal order.

This is the standard nominal sentence pattern:

• definite noun first
• predicate second

So:

• الحظ مهم = Luck is important

Changing the order can affect style, emphasis, or sound unnatural for a beginner’s intended meaning. If your goal is simply to say Luck is important, stick with:

الحظ مهم

That would be a different structure.

الحظ مهم

This is a full sentence:

• Luck is important

الحظ المهم

This is a noun phrase:

• the important luck

In Arabic, this distinction is very important:

• In a sentence, the predicate is often indefinite
• In a noun + adjective phrase, the adjective must match the noun in definiteness

So:

• الحظ مهم = sentence
• الحظ المهم = noun phrase

This is one of the most useful patterns for beginners to notice.