آلَيتُ لا آتي بُخارى بَعدَها

وَلَو انَّها في الأَرضِ دارُ خُلودِ

I swore I would never come to Bukhara again,

Even if it were an abode of immortality on earth.

فَلَقَد حَلَلتُ بِها حَنيفاً مُسلِماً

وَرَحَلتُ عَنها بِاِعتِقادِ يَهودي

For I arrived there a true believer, a Muslim,

And departed from it holding a Jew’s creed.