1. وَحاكِمٍ في القُلوب

    أَحوى أَغَنَّ رَبيبِ

    And a ruler over hearts,

    dark-lipped, sweetly nasal-voiced, tenderly reared,

  2. مقدَّر من قَضيب

    مركَّب في كَثيبِ

    fashioned from a slender branch,

    set in a sand dune;

  3. مُقارب مِن بَعيد

    مُباعد مِن قَريبِ

    drawing near from afar,

    holding aloof from close by;

  4. مُستَقبَلاً بِقُلوب

    مُشَيَّعا بِقُلوبِ

    welcomed with hearts,

    escorted away with hearts.

  5. تَراه عِند طُلوع

    مِنهُ وَعِندَ غُروبِ

    You see him at his rising,

    and at his setting,

  6. مُواجِها بِالتَفَدّي

    مُستَودَعا في المَغيبِ

    face to face with pledges of self-sacrifice,

    entrusted to safekeeping in absence.

  7. نَخالُ فيهِ قطوبا

    وَما بِهِ من قطوبِ

    We imagine a frown in him,

    yet there is no frown in him,

  8. لكِن بَوادِرُ زَهو

    ما بَينَ حُسن وَطيبِ

    but only flashes of pride

    amid beauty and sweetness.