Among his verses:

[Ṭawīl metre]
Ask the wretched, shivering man, O Mother of Mālik,
who comes to me between my hearth-fire and the place where I carve the meat:
Shall I not greet him with an open, welcoming face—this is the first rite of hospitality—
and lavish upon him my kindness without a trace of reproach? (1)

He also said:

[Ṭawīl metre]
If you grant your belly all that it desires,
and your loins as well, together they will earn you the height of blame. (2)

The judge Abū al-Faraj al-Muʿaffā ibn Zakariyyā (3) al-Jurayrī said: Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Qāsim al-Kawkabī related to us, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mubarrad related to us, al-Tawzī informed me, on the authority of Abū ʿUbaydah, who said:

When Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī heard al-Mutalammis recite:

A little wealth that you manage well will last,
whereas abundant wealth cannot survive corruption.
To guard your money is better than to lose it,
and to roam the land harshly with no provisions,

he said, “What is wrong with him? May God cut off his tongue! He has urged people to be stingy. Why did he not instead say:

[Ṭawīl metre]
Generosity does not consume wealth before its destined end,
nor does miserliness increase the miser’s hoard.
So do not seek wealth by leading a cramped, pinched life;
every morrow brings a fresh allotment of provision.
Have you not seen that wealth comes and goes,
and that the One who provides for you is never far away?” (4)

The judge Abū al-Faraj commented: He excelled in the line, “and the One who provides for you is never far away.” Had he been Muslim, one would hope for him goodness in the Hereafter.

God the Exalted says in His Book: “Ask Allah for His bounty” (Qur’an 4:32).
And He says: “When My servants ask you about Me, indeed I am near; I answer the supplicant when he calls upon Me” (Qur’an 2:186).

Al-Waḍḍāḥ ibn Maʿbad al-Ṭāʾī related:

Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī visited al-Nuʿmān ibn al-Munḏhir, who honored him and drew him close. When Ḥātim prepared to depart, the king sent him off with two camels laden with gold and silver, in addition to the curiosities of the land he had already presented.

Ḥātim set out, and when he drew near his people, the Bedouins of Ṭayyʾ came out to meet him. They said, “O Ḥātim, you have returned from the king wealthy, while we have come from our families destitute.”

Ḥātim replied, “Come, take what lies before me and share it among yourselves.” They sprang upon the gifts al-Nuʿmān had sent and divided them up. Then someone came out to Ḥātim