ليتني ليتَ ليتني

فوق شَفريكِ أبهرُه

I wish, I wish, I wish

Oh, how I wish, I wish, I wish,

I would dazzle above your eyelids

To be above your lips, overwhelming them,

مُلصَقاً فوق فوقهِ

أبداً لا أفَتّرُه

Stuck right above, right above

Pressed close, right on top of it,

Never parting forever

Never letting it go slack,

وأنا ثمّ ثمّ ثم

على ذاكَ أُعصّره

And I, still, still, still

While I am there, and there, and there,

Would wring myself out over that

Squeezing it down upon that,

بصُمُلِّ مقددِّ

أعجر الرأسِ أقشره

With a strong grip

With a stout, hardened shaft,

The nape of the wrinkled head I would peel

Thick-headed and bare-skinned,

مُحكَمِ الأمرِ ضَيغم

صائبٍ حين أصدرُه

With determined command I would forge

Firm in command, a lion,

Achieving when I undertake

Striking true as I drive it forth,

فأنالُ الذي كذا

كنتُ في الجوفِ أضمرُه

What I had harbored inside

So that I attain what—just so—

I have been harboring deep inside.