نار المخيم قرب الخيمة.

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present tense. So a sentence like this can simply put the topic first and the location or description after it.

So:

• نار المخيم = the campfire / the fire of the camp
• قرب الخيمة = near the tent

Together, the sentence means The campfire is near the tent, even though Arabic does not include a separate word for is here.

If you wanted the past tense, Arabic would use a verb, for example كانت for was.

Yes. نار المخيم is an iḍāfa construction, often called a genitive construction or possessive construction.

It is made of:

• نار = fire
• المخيم = the camp

Together, they mean:

• the fire of the camp
• or more naturally in English, the campfire

In Arabic, iḍāfa is very common for showing possession or a close relationship between two nouns.

That is one of the key rules of iḍāfa.

In an iḍāfa:

• the first noun usually does not take الـ
• the second noun determines whether the whole phrase is definite or indefinite

So here:

• نار has no الـ
• المخيم has الـ

Because the second noun is definite, the whole phrase نار المخيم is definite: the campfire / the fire of the camp.

So this is normal Arabic grammar, not a missing article.

Here قرب means near.

Grammatically, it is often treated as a noun of place / ظرف meaning nearness, and it functions like near in English.

So:

• قرب الخيمة = near the tent

A very literal sense would be something like in the vicinity of the tent, but in normal English we simply say near the tent.

Because in this structure, قرب directly connects to the following noun.

So Arabic can say:

• قرب الخيمة = near the tent

without needing من.

You may also learn other expressions such as:

• بالقرب من الخيمة = near the tent

That is also correct, but it is a different structure. In your sentence, قرب الخيمة is already complete by itself.

If fully vowelled in formal grammar, it would be:

نارُ المخيمِ قربَ الخيمةِ

Here is why:

• نارُ: nominative, because it is the subject/topic of the nominal sentence
• المخيمِ: genitive, because it is the second part of the iḍāfa
• قربَ: accusative as a ظرف
• الخيمةِ: genitive, because it is connected to قرب

In normal modern writing, these short-vowel endings are usually omitted, so you just see:

نار المخيم قرب الخيمة

Yes. نار is a feminine noun in Arabic.

That matters when you use:

• adjectives
• pronouns
• verbs referring back to it

For example, if you described the fire as big, the adjective would be feminine:

• نار كبيرة = a big fire

In your sentence there is no adjective or verb agreeing with نار, so you do not see the effect directly, but it is still an important fact to know.

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• النار قرب الخيمة = the fire is near the tent
• نار المخيم قرب الخيمة = the campfire / the fire of the camp is near the tent

So النار refers to the fire in a more general way, while نار المخيم identifies it specifically as the camp’s fire or campfire.

In both words, the ل of الـ is pronounced clearly.

That is because:

• م in المخيم is a moon letter
• خ in الخيمة is also a moon letter

So you pronounce:

• al-mukhayyam
• al-khaymah

The l does not assimilate here.

A helpful way is:

• نار المخيم = the campfire
• قرب الخيمة = near the tent

So the sentence structure is:

• topic: نار المخيم
• location: قرب الخيمة

This is a very common Arabic pattern: noun phrase + place expression.

It is a nominal sentence because it begins with a noun, not a verb.

The first part, نار المخيم, is the topic or subject of the sentence, and قرب الخيمة gives information about it.

Arabic very often uses nominal sentences for simple present-time statements like:

• The book is on the table
• The house is big
• The campfire is near the tent

So this sentence is a good example of a basic present-tense nominal sentence in MSA.