So what can you possibly say to your sister
except your scolding—or the withholding of one born to give? (1)
All that you see today is but an inborn trait;
how, my mother’s son, could I ever abandon what is innate? (2)
Al-Haytham ibn ʿAdī related, through Milḥān ibn ʿArkā ibn ʿAdī ibn Ḥātim, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:
“I was present with Ḥātim when death overcame him. (3) He said to me, ‘My son, I recognize in myself three qualities: by Allah, I have never crept upon a neighbour for any illicit purpose; I have never been entrusted with a trust without returning it; and no one has ever been harmed because of me.’
Abū Bakr al-Kharaʾiṭī said: ʿAlī ibn Ḥarb narrated to us, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yaḥyā al-ʿAdawī narrated to us, Hishām ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Sāʾib al-Kalbī narrated to us, from Abū Miskīn—i.e., Jaʿfar ibn al-Muḥarrar ibn al-Walīd—from al-Muḥarrar, the client of Abū Hurayrah, who said:
A group from ʿAbd al-Qays passed by the grave of Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī and camped nearby. One of them—known as Abū al-Khaybarī (5)—went up to the grave (6), kicking it with his foot and calling, “O Abū al-Jaʿrāʾ, treat us as guests!” (7)
One of his companions said, “How can you address a heap of bones that has long decayed?” Night overtook them, so they slept. (8)
The same man awoke in fright, crying, “People, to your mounts! Ḥātim came to me in my sleep and recited verses which I have memorised.” He then recited:
[in the mutaqārib metre]
O Abū al-Khaybarī—you are a man
who wrongs his kin and reviles his clan;
You came with your comrades seeking a meal
by a pit whose rattling skulls forewarn.
Do you fault me for failing to lodge you here
while all around you lies Ṭayy and its herds?
Yet we shall still sate our honoured guests;
your mounts will arrive, and we’ll slaughter them for food. (9–10)
At that very moment the camel of the speaker collapsed (11). They slaughtered it, roasted the meat, and ate, saying, “By Allah, Ḥātim has been our host—alive and dead alike!”
When dawn broke they seated their companion behind another rider and set off, and suddenly a man