Stop it!

Stop it!” he cried and then recited the following poem: “Life is nothing except living luxuriously and gratifying oneself; even if the people censure you.” And then he shrieked: “O’ the beloved of the beloved ones! You have spoken the truth. May Allah destroy anyone who criticizes me for being in love with you! O’ Slave!

Go and ask my brother Maslamah to go to the mosque and lead the prayers in my place.” He then headed towards his pleasure-hall first, and later, for greater fun and enjoyment, proceeded towards Bait al-Rass, which is situated near Damascus. Once there, he said to his slaves: “People think that there is no pleasure without any bitterness and I wish to prove the falsity of this notion of theirs.” He remained there in order that no news or letters ever reached him.

He remained completely engrossed in merry-making without the slightest of troubles. However, as fate would have it, one day a seed of pomegranate got stuck in Hababah’s throat and, following a bout of severe coughing, she passed away. Day and night, the caliph held the lifeless body of Hababah in his arms and shed tears over it, and it was only on the insistence of her relatives that her stinking body was eventually buried.

The caliph too, after this incident, did not live for more than fifteen days and was laid to rest near the grave of Hababah.[^5] ‘Isa and the Greedy Person Prophet ‘Isa (as) had been travelling in the company of another person when, after having journeyed for a period, they were overcome by hunger. They reached a village where ‘Isa (as) requested his companion to go and bring some bread, while he engaged himself in prayers.

The man returned with three loaves of bread and waited for ‘Isa (as) to join him, but since his prayers continued for a long time, the person quietly consumed one loaf of bread. “Were there three loaves of bread?” ‘Isa (as) asked after completing his prayers. “No, there were only two,” replied the man. A short while after they had eaten their food, they set off again and on the way encountered a herd of deer.

‘Isa (as) summoned one of the deer towards him, sacrificed it, and both the men sat down to eat it. When they had finished eating, ‘Isa (as) commanded: “O’ deer! Move by the permission of Allah!” The deer immediately came to life and sprinted away. Witnessing this, the man stood dumbfounded and uttered, “Subhanallah (Glory be to Allah).” “I put you under the oath of He, Who has manifested this sign of His power before you!