وَزَنّا الكأسَ فارِغَةً وملأى

وَزَنّا الكأسَ فارِغَةً وملأى

وكانَ عيارُها عندي سَواءَ

وكانَ عيارُها عندي سَواءَ

We weighed the cup, empty and full,

We weighed the empty goblet and filled it,

and its weight, to my reckoning, was the same.

Yet to me both states were equal.

ولن يزدادَ حَجْمٌ من هَواءٍ

ولن يزدادَ حَجْمٌ من هَواءٍ

وإنْ زادَتْهُ شَمسُ ضُحىً ضِياءَ

وإنْ زادَتْهُ شَمسُ ضُحىً ضِياءَ

And a volume of air will not gain weight,

Its size will not increase with air

even if the midmorning sun adds light to it.

Though the morning sun fills it with brilliance.