مقبض المزهرية أملس.

It is a nominal sentence in Arabic.

• مقبض المزهرية is the subject/topic (مبتدأ)
• أملس is the predicate/comment (خبر)

So the structure is basically:

• [the vase’s handle] [smooth]

Arabic often builds simple present-tense descriptions this way.

Because in Arabic, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present tense when making simple descriptions.

So Arabic says:

• مقبض المزهرية أملس
• literally: the vase’s handle smooth

but the meaning is the vase’s handle is smooth.

If you wanted the past tense, Arabic would normally use كان or another form of to be.

Because مقبض المزهرية is an iḍāfa construction, often called the construct phrase.

In an iḍāfa:

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

So:

• مقبض المزهرية = the handle of the vase / the vase’s handle

Even without الـ on مقبض, the whole phrase is definite because المزهرية is definite.

They form a possession-type relationship: handle of the vase.

This is one of the most common uses of iḍāfa in Arabic. English often uses:

• of
• or ’s

So this Arabic structure can match either of these English patterns:

• the handle of the vase
• the vase’s handle

Arabic does this without a separate word like of.

In an iḍāfa construction, the second noun is always genitive.

So in careful full reading, it would be:

• مقبضُ المزهريةِ أملسُ

Here:

• مقبضُ = nominative, because it is the subject
• المزهريةِ = genitive, because it is the second term of the iḍāfa
• أملسُ = nominative, because it is the predicate

Also, because المزهرية ends in ة, that ة is pronounced as t when followed by a case ending in formal reading.

Because أملس describes مقبض, not المزهرية.

The head noun of the phrase is مقبض (handle), and that noun is masculine singular, so the predicate is also masculine singular.

This is important: in مقبض المزهرية, the word right before أملس is not necessarily the word it agrees with. It agrees with the main noun of the whole phrase, which is مقبض.

If you were describing the vase itself as smooth, you would use a feminine form instead.

Because here أملس is the predicate, not an attributive adjective inside the noun phrase.

In Arabic nominal sentences, the predicate is often indefinite. So:

• مقبض المزهرية أملس = The vase’s handle is smooth

But if you made it definite as an adjective, it would sound like part of the noun phrase:

• مقبض المزهرية الأملس = the smooth handle of the vase

So the lack of الـ helps show that أملس is the predicate.

In fully inflected formal Arabic, it would be:

• مقبضُ المزهريةِ أملسُ

The endings are there because:

• مقبضُ is the subject of the sentence
• المزهريةِ is the second noun in the iḍāfa, so it is genitive
• أملسُ is the predicate, so it is nominative

In normal everyday pronunciation, especially outside careful recitation or formal reading, these final short vowels are often not fully pronounced.

This is a more advanced point.

أملس is on the pattern أفعل, and adjectives on this pattern are often diptotes (ممنوع من الصرف). That means they do not take tanwīn in the usual way.

So in the nominative indefinite, you get:

• أملسُ not
• أملسٌ

Since the sentence is normally written without full vowel marks, you do not see this clearly in plain spelling, but in full grammatical reading it matters.