حِبّ

[Ali Smith]

مرحبا

وَقامَ مَنْ كانَ حِبُّ النّاسِ في عَجَلٍ نَحْوَ المُغَسِّلِ يَأْتيني يُغَسِّلُني
وَقالَ يا قَوْمِ نَبْغِي غاسِلاً حَذِقاً حُراً أَديبًا أَريباً عَارِفاً فَطِنِ
فَجاءَني رَجُلٌ مِنْهُمْ فَجَرَّدَني مِنَ الثِّيابِ وَأَعْرَاني وأَفْرَدَني

What does حِبّ mean?

Translation: And the man who was...of the people stood up in a hurry and (went) toward the washer while he was coming to wash me. And he said, "Oh nation, we are seeking an intelligent, knowledgeable, literate, free, clever washer." So, a man from amongst them came to me and stripped me of my clothes and made me naked and separated me (from everyone else).

شكرا جزيلا

 

[shafaq]

حِبُّ النّاسِ (most) respected, beloved one among people

 

[SunSpring]

From what I understand, 'حب الناس' here means the one the poet loved him the most.

 

[Ali Smith]

But then shouldn't حب الناس have been pronounced حِبَّ الناس rather than حِبُّ الناس?

وَقامَ مَنْ كانَ حِبُّ النّاسِ في عَجَلٍ نَحْوَ المُغَسِّلِ يَأْتيني يُغَسِّلُني
وَقامَ مَنْ كانَ حِبَّ النّاسِ في عَجَلٍ نَحْوَ المُغَسِّلِ يَأْتيني يُغَسِّلُني

 

[WadiH]

I think it's just a mistake in the particular source you copied it from. It should be حِبَّ (because it is خبر كان).

 

[גולם]

I think it's just a mistake in the particular source you copied it from. It should be حِبَّ (because it is خبر كان).

Why can't it be اسم كان?

 

[WadiH]

Because it is the predicate. “[He] was the beloved of the people”, not “The beloved of the people was”.