A notable feature of Janabi’s work is the multiplicity of pronouns in the poetic text, which leads to the creation of an imagined world that tends to polyphony and a smooth transition from one pronoun to another. Usually, the poetic hero comes in the form of a singular first-person pronoun, then we see him as a single hero expressing the poet’s conscience, his thoughts, and stance on important issues of existence. We find him once again as a collective hero speaking in the form of a plural first person pronoun in the name of the society represented by the poet with all its cultural and national peculiarities, or speaking on behalf of humanity with all its common concerns and principles.

It seems that the poet, through the extensive use of the singular first person pronoun in his poems, intended to emphasize complete identification with his poetic hero. However, it is sometimes noticed that the words in the same text shift from the singular first person pronoun to the first person plural, and thanks to this collective voice, we feel that the poem is acquiring an epic atmosphere. The best example of this could be the first poem of the collection Iḏā daẖalta baytanā fa-satuqabbil qadamayka al-‘ataba (If You Enter Our Home, the Threshold Will Kiss Your Feet), entitled “Sū’ fahm” (Misunderstanding). We find in it a rapid transition from the singular first person pronoun – the mouthpiece of the poet, to the plural first person pronoun, then returning to the singular first person. This can be seen when moving from one speaker to another, where the formula of speech changes, for example: when the hero in the second line speaks on his behalf: “my homeland,” then speaks using the plural first person pronoun, when he uses the phrase “we said” in the two subsequent lines. Before the end of the poem, we find the phrases “I removed” and “I saw,” as a confirmation of returning to the narration in the name of the hero. The reader realizes that the singular first person pronoun belongs to the poet himself, and that speaking in the plural form is the voice of the poet and his family, meaning: his wife, their son – Ādam and his dog.