القمر فوق الجبل.

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

So:

• القمر فوق الجبل
• literally: the moon above the mountain
• natural English: The moon is above the mountain

This kind of sentence is called a nominal sentence in Arabic. The meaning of is is understood automatically.

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

الـ is the Arabic definite article, meaning the.

So:

• قمر = a moon / moon
• القمر = the moon

and:

• جبل = a mountain / mountain
• الجبل = the mountain

In this sentence, both nouns are definite:

• القمر = the moon
• الجبل = the mountain

A common transliteration is:

al-qamar fawqa al-jabal

A rough pronunciation guide:

• al = like al in algebra
• qamar = qa-mar
  
  • q is deeper than English k, pronounced farther back in the mouth
• fawqa = faw-qa
• jabal = ja-bal
  
  • j in Modern Standard Arabic is usually like English j in jump

If fully vocalized, it is usually written:

القمرُ فوقَ الجبلِ

This is a very normal Arabic pattern for a simple descriptive sentence:

• القمر = the topic / subject
• فوق الجبل = the information about it

So Arabic is basically saying:

• The moon — above the mountain

This structure is very common in Arabic nominal sentences.

فوق means above, over, or on top of depending on context.

In this sentence, the most natural translation is:

• above the mountain

So:

• القمر فوق الجبل = The moon is above the mountain

It does not necessarily mean the moon is physically touching the mountain. It just means it is higher than it.

Usually, فوق is better here.

• فوق = above / over
• على = on / on top of / upon

Since the moon is not literally resting on the mountain, فوق is the natural choice.

Compare:

• القمر فوق الجبل = The moon is above the mountain
• الكتاب على الجبل = The book is on the mountain

So على often suggests contact more strongly than فوق.

Because فوق needs something to tell us above what.

• فوق = above
• الجبل = the mountain

Together:

• فوق الجبل = above the mountain

So الجبل completes the meaning of فوق.

In full grammatical Arabic, الجبل becomes الجبلِ because it comes after فوق, and that makes it genitive.

Fully vocalized:

• القمرُ = nominative
• فوقَ = adverbial/accusative form
• الجبلِ = genitive

So the full sentence is:

القمرُ فوقَ الجبلِ

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

القمر فوق الجبل

If you want the full Classical/fully-vocalized grammatical form, it is:

القمرُ فوقَ الجبلِ

Here is the breakdown:

• القمرُ
  The subject of the sentence, so it is nominative.

• فوقَ
  Traditionally treated as a ظرف مكان (adverbial noun of place), so it appears with fatḥa here.

• الجبلِ
  Comes after فوق, so it is genitive.

In most modern printed Arabic for learners and native readers alike, these endings are often left unwritten.

It is often easiest for learners to think of فوق as working like a preposition, because it introduces a phrase such as:

• فوق الجبل = above the mountain

More traditionally in Arabic grammar, فوق is often analyzed as a noun of place / adverbial expression rather than a simple preposition.

For beginners, the most useful practical idea is:

• treat فوق as meaning above
• remember that the noun after it is typically genitive

Because ق and ج are moon letters, not sun letters.

In Arabic, the l in الـ is:

• pronounced with moon letters
• assimilated/not pronounced with sun letters

So here you say:

• al-qamar
• al-jabal

with the l clearly pronounced.

For comparison, with a sun letter:

• الشمس is pronounced ash-shams, not al-shams

Yes, very closely:

• القمر = the moon
• فوق = above
• الجبل = the mountain

So the literal order is:

• the moon above the mountain

Natural English adds is:

• The moon is above the mountain

That added is is just good English; Arabic does not need it here.