الشق قرب الحافة.

Because Arabic usually omits the present-tense verb to be in simple nominal sentences.

So:

• الشق قرب الحافة
• literally: the crack near the edge
• natural English: The crack is near the edge

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

It is pronounced ash-shaqq in pause.

Two useful things are happening here:

• ش is a sun letter, so the ل of ال is not pronounced separately.
  So الشق sounds like ash-shaqq, not al-shaqq.
• The word شقّ has a doubled final consonant, so the q sound is held a little longer.

Also, ق is qāf, which is farther back in the mouth than an ordinary English k.

Here قرب means near.

Grammatically, it is often described as an adverbial noun of place, or a preposition-like word. In practical terms, you can think of:

• قرب الحافة = near the edge

So in the sentence:

• الشق = the crack
• قرب الحافة = near the edge

Because قرب can be followed directly by the noun that comes after it:

• قرب الحافة = near the edge

This is different from قريب, which usually does take من:

• قريب من الحافة = near the edge

So both patterns exist in Arabic, but they are different structures:

• قرب + noun
• قريب من + noun

Because it means the edge, not an edge.

So the sentence is talking about a specific crack and a specific edge:

• الشق = the crack
• الحافة = the edge

If you wanted an edge, you would use حافة without ال.

With full case endings, you could write it as:

الشَّقُّ قربَ الحافّةِ

The roles are:

• الشقُّ — nominative, because it is the subject/topic
• قربَ — adverbial expression of place
• الحافّةِ — genitive after قرب

In normal Arabic writing, these endings are usually not written, which is why you normally just see:

الشق قرب الحافة

Because Arabic often begins a nominal sentence with the thing being talked about, and then gives information about it.

So:

• الشق = what the sentence is about
• قرب الحافة = where it is

That makes the order very natural in Arabic.

Yes. That is also correct and very common.

Compare:

• الشق قرب الحافة
• الشق قريب من الحافة

Both mean basically The crack is near the edge.

The difference is mostly structural:

• قرب الحافة is a compact near the edge expression
• قريب من الحافة uses the adjective قريب = near/close

For a learner, قريب من may feel more familiar at first.

It is tāʾ marbūṭa (ة), which often marks a feminine singular noun.

So حافّة is a feminine noun.

In pronunciation:

• in pause, it sounds like -ah: al-ḥāffah
• in fully inflected reading, it is pronounced with t before the case ending: al-ḥāffati

That is a very common pattern in Arabic nouns.