Download PDF: [S] Hatim Ta’i meets a generous person (Islamic story)

The full name of Hatim Ta’i – may Allah have mercy on him – was Haatim bin Abdullah bin Sa’ad bin Al Hashraj Al Ta’i Al Qahtaani. He lived in Najd and was considered extremely brave and strong. He also had a strong inclination towards poetry and such things. Hatim Ta’i – may Allah have mercy on him – was also considered as very generous and munificence. In fact in those days, when the name of Haatim Ta’i appeared in any conversation, it was indicative of a person who was unmatched in generosity and kindness. Hatim Ta’i – may Allah have mercy on him – passed away eight years after the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – was born. (Al ‘Alaam. 2/151)

 

Once someone asked Hatim Ta’i – may Allah have mercy on him, “Have you ever met someone who was more generous and munificence than you?”

 

Hatim Ta’i – may Allah have mercy on him – replied that indeed he had meet someone of this nature before. He explained, “Once I happen to stay in the house of an orphan from the Bani Tai and he offered me a sheep which he fed me. It must be borne in mind that he also had ten other sheep. While I was eating, he placed the brain of the sheep in front of me which I liked immensely. While I was eating this delicate part of the sheep, I mentioned to him, ‘Indeed this is extremely delicious’.

 

When the orphan heard this, he then began to slaughter one sheep after another and presented the brain of each one of them to me. Obviously at that moment, I did not know what he had done.

 

When I began to return from his house I saw that around the house, the bodies of all of these sheep was laying slaughtered on the ground while they were still tied to their ropes. I also noticed that everywhere around the house, there was blood. I then released that this poor person had slaughtered all of his sheep merely to satisfy my personal wish. I then asked him, “Why did you slaughter all of your sheep?”

 

He replied, “Glory to Allah Almighty! If there is a guest of mine who wishes for something and I happen to have that item and I do not feed him, that would be considered as extreme miserly behaviour. How could I have restricted this from you in the first place? It would have been against the behaviour of an Arab and considered a great defect.”

 

Someone then asked Hatim Ta’i – may Allah have mercy on him – as to what did he do after that. He replied, “I then gave this orphan three hundred expensive red camels plus five hundred sheep as a gift.” When the people heard this, they replied, “If that is the case, then it means that you were even more generous than him.”

 

He replied, “Most certainly not. In fact the orphan was certainly more generous than me because he had sacrificed whatever he had for me while I had only given him a small portion of my wealth.” (Al Musta jaad, Imam Tanuji, 203)