Image:Al-Bahrain.svg|thumb|right|Al- is not a permanent component of words, as shown here with , the Arabic for Bahrain. (, also transliterated as el- and in some cases il- and ul-) is the definite article in the Arabic language; a particle (ḥarf) whose function is to render the noun on which it is prefixed definite. For example, the word “kitāb” (book) can be made definite by prefixing it with Al-, resulting in “Al-kitāb” (the book). Consequently, Al- is typically translated as the'' in English. Unlike most other particles in Arabic, Al- is always prefixed to another word and it never stands alone. Consequently, most dictionaries will not list it as a separate word, and it is almost invariably ignored in collation. By the same token, Al- is not a permanent component of the word to which it is prefixed. It is added and removed to toggle between the definiteness and indefiniteness of the word. As a particle, Al- does not inflect at all – not for gender, plurality, grammatical case, etc.

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