leprosy. His dwelling was by the outermost gate of the city. He was a believing and charitable man: when evening came, he would gather his earnings and divide them into two halves, feeding one half to his family and giving the other half in charity. (1) When he learned that his people intended to kill the messengers, he came to them and said, “O my people, follow the messengers.”

“Follow those who ask no reward of you and are rightly guided (21). Why should I not worship Him who created me, and to whom you will be returned (22)? Should I take gods besides Him? If the Most Merciful intends harm for me, their intercession will not avail me at all, nor can they save me (23). Then I would surely be in manifest error (24).”

“Follow those who ask no reward of you and are rightly guided.” Qatada said: Habib was in a cave worshipping his Lord. (2) When news of the messengers reached him, he came to them and openly professed his religion. When Habib reached the messengers, he asked them, “Do you seek any reward for this?” They replied, “No.” So he turned to his people and said, “O my people, follow the messengers. Follow those who ask no reward of you and are rightly guided.” When he said this, they asked him, “Are you opposing our religion, following the religion of these messengers, and believing in their god?” He replied:

“Why should I not worship Him who created me, and to whom you will be returned?” Hamzah and Yaqub recited the word mali with its final ya unvowelled, while the others recited it with a fathah. It is said that he attributed creation to himself and the return to them because creation is the effect of a blessing, which was more evident in his own case; whereas returning carries the sense of warning, which was more fitting for them.

It is also said that when he declared, “Follow the messengers,” they seized him and brought him before the king. The king asked him, “Do you follow them?” He replied, “Why should I not worship Him who created me?” That is, what excuse would I have for not worshipping the Creator? “And to Him you will be returned”: you will be brought back at the Resurrection, and He will requite you for your deeds.

“Should I take gods besides Him?” This is an interrogative meant as a denial; that is, I shall not take gods besides Him. “If the Most Merciful intends harm for me”—that is, evil or something distressing—“their intercession will not avail me at all”: they possess no intercession whatsoever that could benefit me. “Nor can they save me” from that affliction. It is also said: they cannot save me from punishment if Allah were to punish me for doing so. “Then I would surely be in manifest error”—that is, in clear misguidance.