بعد أن أغسل وجهي، أضع المنشفة قرب المرآة.

بعد means after. When it is followed by أن + a verb, it introduces a time clause:

بعد أن أغسل وجهي = after I wash my face / after washing my face

So:

• بعد = after
• أن introduces the verb clause that follows

Using بعد alone would not give the full structure here. بعد أن is a very common pattern in MSA for after doing something.

In Arabic, after أن, the verb is normally in the present/subjunctive form, even when English might use a past or perfect idea.

So:

• أغسلُ = I wash / I am washing
• after أن it becomes أغسلَ in full vocalization

In normal unvoweled writing, both look the same: أغسل.

So the fully vocalized part is:

بعد أن أغسلَ وجهي

This is normal Arabic grammar. English and Arabic do not match tense-for-tense here.

You could also express a similar idea with a past verb in other structures, but بعد أن + present verb is perfectly standard.

It is built into the verbs.

• أغسل = I wash
• أضع = I put

The prefix أ on these present-tense verbs marks first person singular.

That means Arabic often does not need a separate pronoun like أنا. If you said أنا أغسل or أنا أضع, that would usually add emphasis.

وجهي means my face.

It is made from:

• وجه = face
• ـي = my

So:

وجه + ي = وجهي

In Arabic, a noun with a possessive suffix is already definite, so it does not take ال.

Compare:

• وجه = a face / face
• الوجه = the face
• وجهي = my face

So الوجهي would be wrong here.

Because they are definite nouns:

• المنشفة = the towel
• المرآة = the mirror

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific towel and a specific mirror, so ال is natural.

This also creates a nice contrast with وجهي:

• وجهي is definite because of possession (my face)
• المنشفة and المرآة are definite because of ال

قرب means near or close to.

So:

قرب المرآة = near the mirror

Grammatically, قرب is often treated as an adverbial noun or a preposition-like word. The noun after it is in the genitive:

• قربَ المرآةِ in full vocalization

In everyday unvoweled text, you usually just see:

قرب المرآة

For a learner, the main practical meaning is simply near the mirror.

Arabic word order is fairly flexible.

This sentence begins with the time clause:

بعد أن أغسل وجهي، أضع المنشفة قرب المرآة.

That gives the sense of:

After I wash my face, I put the towel near the mirror.

You could also say:

أضع المنشفة قرب المرآة بعد أن أغسل وجهي.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly one of emphasis and flow.

Starting with بعد أن... highlights the time relationship first.

Because Arabic present tense can express:

• present actions
• habitual actions
• routines
• near future, depending on context

Here the sentence sounds like a routine or habitual sequence:

After I wash my face, I put the towel near the mirror.

So أضع is natural. It does not have to mean I am putting right now; it can also mean I usually put in this kind of context.

Yes, both are grammatically feminine.

You can often recognize that from the ة at the end:

• منشفة
• مرآة

That final ة is called tāʾ marbūṭa, and it very often marks feminine nouns.

In this particular sentence, that does not create a big visible change, but it matters for agreement with adjectives, pronouns, and verbs in other contexts.

For example:

• المنشفة نظيفة = the towel is clean
• المرآة كبيرة = the mirror is big

A common fully vocalized version is:

بَعْدَ أَنْ أَغْسِلَ وَجْهِي، أَضَعُ الْمِنْشَفَةَ قُرْبَ الْمِرْآةِ.

This shows a few useful things:

• بعدَ ends with fatḥa
• أغسلَ is subjunctive after أن
• أضعُ is the normal indicative present
• المنشفةَ is the direct object
• المرآةِ is genitive after قرب

In normal modern writing, these short vowels are usually omitted.

Yes, but the structure changes slightly.

With ثم, you would say:

أغسل وجهي ثم أضع المنشفة قرب المرآة.

That means:

I wash my face, then I put the towel near the mirror.

Difference:

• بعد أن introduces a subordinate time clause: after I wash...
• ثم links two main actions: I wash..., then I put...

Both are correct, but they are not exactly the same grammatical structure.

Because Arabic usually expresses possession by attaching a suffix directly to the noun.

So instead of a separate word like my, Arabic uses ـي:

• كتابي = my book
• بيتي = my house
• وجهي = my face

This is one of the most important patterns in Arabic, and it appears constantly.