1. يا نافِخَ الصورِ بَل يا نافِخَ الصُوَرِ

    مَن رَقدَةِ السُكرِ لا مِن ظُلمَةِ الحُفَرِ

    O you who blow the Trumpet—rather, breathe life into forms,

    rousing them from drunken slumber, not from the darkness of graves.

  2. قَرَنتَ حُسنَكَ بِالإِحسانِ فيهِ لَنا

    فَكانَ فيكَ مُرادُ السَمعِ وَالبَصَرِ

    You joined your beauty with excellence in your playing for us,

    so in you lay what ear and eye desired.

  3. ضَمِنتَ لِلصَحبِ إِقبالَ السُرورِ كَما

    ضَمَّنتَ نايَكَ نَأيَ الهَمِّ وَالكَدَرِ

    You guaranteed the companions joy’s arrival, just as

    you imbued your flute with the banishment of care and gloom.

  4. صَوتٌ بَسيطٌ بِهِ أَرواحُنا اِنبَسَطَت

    إِذ جِئتَ في اللَفظِ وَالمَعنى عَلى قَدَرِ

    A simple sound, through which our spirits opened wide,

    as you kept due measure in expression and meaning.

  5. إِذا تَرَنَّمَ ساوى وَزنَ نَغمَتِهِ

    وَإِن عَلا جاءَ بِالتَرخيمِ في الأَثَرِ

    When it trills, it matches the measure of its melody;

    and if it rises, it brings a softened tone in its wake.

  6. يَكادُ تُخرِسُ صَوتَ العودِ صَرخَتُهُ

    حَتّى كَأَنَّ لَهُ وِتراً عَلى الوَتَرِ

    Its shrill cry almost silences the voice of the oud,

    so much so that it seems to have a score to settle with the string.