الحطب جاف قرب نار المخيم.

In Modern Standard Arabic, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present tense when you have a simple sentence like X is Y.

So:

• الحطب جاف = The wood is dry
• literally: the wood dry

This is called a nominal sentence. Arabic often just puts the subject first and the description after it.

If you wanted was or will be, then Arabic would normally use a verb such as كان.

الحطب means the wood / the firewood, but in Arabic the definite article الـ is often used where English might simply say wood or firewood in a general sense.

So الحطب can refer to:

• a specific pile of wood
• wood/firewood as a known thing in the context
• sometimes a general class of material

Here it is also the subject of the sentence, and definite subjects are very common in Arabic nominal sentences.

Because جاف is the predicate of the sentence: it tells you something about الحطب.

In Arabic, when a predicate is giving a description like dry, it is usually indefinite, so it does not take الـ.

So:

• الحطب جاف = The wood is dry

not:

• الحطب الجاف = the dry wood

That second form is a noun phrase, not a full sentence. It describes a type of wood, but it does not mean the wood is dry.

Because الحطب is treated as a singular masculine noun in Arabic.

Even though wood/firewood may refer to many pieces, الحطب is a collective or mass noun, so Arabic commonly treats it as grammatically singular.

That is why the adjective/predicate is:

• جاف masculine singular

not:

• جافة feminine singular
• جافون / جافة plural

So the agreement follows the grammar of الحطب, not the real-world idea of multiple sticks or logs.

قرب here means near or in the vicinity of.

It is often taught like a preposition in practice, but grammatically it is originally a noun of place / ظرف used adverbially. In sentences like this, it behaves very much like near in English.

So:

• قرب نار المخيم = near the campfire

In fully vowelled Arabic, it would typically be:

• قُرْبَ نارِ المخيمِ

The noun after قرب comes in the genitive because قرب forms an iḍāfa-like construction with what follows.

Because this is an iḍāfa construction, often translated as:

• the fire of the camp
• more naturally, the campfire

In an iḍāfa:

1. the first noun normally does not take الـ
2. the second noun determines whether the whole phrase is definite

So:

• نار المخيم = the camp’s fire / the campfire

not:

• النار المخيم

Since المخيم is definite, the whole phrase نار المخيم is definite too.

Also, both نار and المخيم are related closely as one unit, not as separate nouns.

Because it is the second term of an iḍāfa.

In Arabic, the second noun in an iḍāfa is always genitive. So in full vowelled form:

• نارُ المخيمِ or here after قربَ: نارِ المخيمِ

The phrase inside the sentence is:

• قربَ نارِ المخيمِ

Here:

• نارِ is genitive after قرب
• المخيمِ is genitive because it is the second noun in the iḍāfa نار المخيم

So both nouns end up in the genitive here, but for slightly different reasons.

The sentence is:

• الحطب = subject/topic
• جاف = predicate/description
• قرب نار المخيم = location phrase

So the structure is basically:

• [subject] + [predicate] + [place expression]

You can think of it as:

• The wood
  • is dry
    • near the campfire

The main statement is الحطب جاف.
Then قرب نار المخيم adds where this is true.

No. جاف agrees with الحطب, not with نار.

This is important because نار is a feminine noun, but it is only part of the location phrase قرب نار المخيم. It is not the thing being described as dry.

So Arabic is saying:

• The wood is dry
• near the campfire

It is not saying:

• The fire is dry

That is why جاف stays masculine singular to match الحطب.

A fully vowelled version would be:

الحَطَبُ جافٌّ قُرْبَ نارِ المُخَيَّمِ.

A few useful notes:

• الحَطَبُ: subject, so nominative
• جافٌّ: predicate, also nominative
• قُرْبَ: adverbial accusative form
• نارِ: genitive after قرب
• المُخَيَّمِ: genitive as second term of the iḍāfa

You may also see ordinary texts written without these endings, as in your original sentence.

Yes. Arabic has several natural ways to express near.

For example:

• الحطب جاف قرب نار المخيم
• الحطب جاف بالقرب من نار المخيم
• الحطب جافٌ قريبًا من نار المخيم or more naturally الحطب قريب من نار المخيم if the focus is on location

Your sentence is perfectly normal, but learners should know that Arabic often has more than one way to express location such as near. The version with قرب is concise and common.