When he would come out of his house to sit in front of the house...

When he would come out of his house to sit in front of the house, where a rug had already been spread for this purpose, the way would be blocked and nobody would pass there out of respect for him, and when he would find this out he would return into the house, easing people's passage.” On the way to Mecca, he dismounted his horse and walked on the way. All people in the caravan, even Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas, followed him and started walking along with him.

Ibn ‘Abbas, who was older than Imam al-Hasan and Imam al-Husayn (as), would take hold of the stirrups of their horses and was proud of this, stating: “These are the sons of the Messenger of Allah.”With such status and dignity, Imam al-Hasan (as) was so humble and modest that once he was passing by a number of the poor and needy who were eating pieces of bread before them on the ground. As they saw Imam al-Hasan (as), they said: “O son of the Messenger of Allah come and share food with us”.

Imam al-Hasan (as) dismounted the horse immediately, saying: “God doesn't like the haughty”, and started eating with them. Then invited them to his house, and gave them both a meal and clothes. There have been many stories about his generosity and liberality, including one narrated by Mada’ini: “Al-Hasan, al-Husayn and ‘Abd Allah b. Ja‘far were on the way to Hajj, when their provisions got lost. Thirsty and hungry, they arrived at a tent in which an old woman was living. They asked her for water.

She told them to milk the sheep and mix the milk with water and drink it. They did so, and then asked for food. She said, ‘I have only got this sheep, you can slaughter and eat it.’ One of them slaughtered the sheep and roasted some of its meet and all ate it, after which they fell asleep. When departing, they told the old woman: ‘We are from Quraysh and are going on Hajj; when we return, come to visit us; we will treat you benevolently’. And they left.

When the woman's husband arrived and found out what had happened, said, ‘Woe to you! You killed my sheep for strangers and you say they were from Quraysh?’ After a while, when the situation became difficult for the old woman, she migrated from that place and happened to pass through Medina. Hasan b. ‘Ali (as) saw her and recognized her. He went near and told her ‘Do you know me? ‘No,’ she said.

‘I am the one who was your guest on such and such a day.’ He said, and then had a thousand heads of sheep and a thousand gold dinar s given to her.