أفدي التي كتبت إلي بنانها

أفدي التي كتبت إلي بنانها

في العود ما أعيا على الكتّاب

في العود ما أعيا على الكتّاب

I would give my life for her whose fingertips wrote to me

I would give my life for she who wrote to me with her fingers

on the lute what proved too hard for the scribes.

On the lute - how tiring for the writers!

كتبت ولا خط سوى أوتارها

كتبت ولا خط سوى أوتارها

فيرى ولا قلم سوى المضراب

فيرى ولا قلم سوى المضراب

She wrote; no script but her strings

She wrote without any pen but her strings

could be seen, and no pen but the plectrum.

So it's seen without any pen but the plectrum

فقرأت ما كتبت بسمعي مطرقاً

فقرأت ما كتبت بسمعي مطرقاً

وأمرت طرفي أن يرد جوابي

وأمرت طرفي أن يرد جوابي

So I read what she wrote with my ears, my head bowed,

I read what she wrote by listening closely

and commanded my gaze to send back my reply.

And told my eyes to reply to her