«لَوْ كَانِ الْحُبِّ بِالْخَاطِرْ كُنْتْ حَبِّيتْ بِنْتِ السُّلْطَانْ»

Love is not something a person selects by wish or personal preference. The speaker reasons that if affection obeyed inclination, everyone would aim at the grandest prize, the sultan's daughter, a stock figure for the most desirable and unreachable match rather than any real royal. Since hearts attach where they please, actual attachment may be modest, inconvenient or surprising.

The saying can also be heard more broadly: the things people most want rarely arrive just because they are wished for. In either reading, it accepts that feelings and fortune lie partly outside one's control, and it gently excuses a choice that others may find puzzling or unambitious.

Fits moments when someone asks why a person loves an unlikely partner, or when a speaker admits feelings they never planned. It can also wryly answer advice to simply love someone more suitable. The tone is resigned and mildly humorous rather than bitter.