wasting his time if they were unable to pay. Once, he went to the house of a person who owed him money and knocked on his door. The person who owed him money was not home, but his wife was, so she said, “My husband is not at home, and I do not have any money to give you. However, we slaughtered a goat today; none of its meat remains except for the head, so you may take that if you wish.”

Ḥabīb al-ꜤAjamī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه took the goat’s head home and said to his wife, “Cook this.”

His wife replied, “There is neither wood in the house, nor any other food.”

Therefore, he brought wood, etc. from the debtor’s house too. His wife cooked the food, and it was not even ready yet when a beggar arrived. Ḥabīb al-ꜤAjamī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه began to berate him and sent him away. The food was now prepared, so he sat to eat, but when his wife lifted the lid, there was no goat’s head. Instead, it was full of blood. His wife exclaimed, “Look at the result of your stinginess! The pot is full of blood!”

For the food to turn into blood was like a divine warning, which Sayyidunā Ḥabīb al-ꜤAjamī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه took seriously, and hence, he immediately made a firm intention to leave all sins. Following this, he went outside his home and was walking on the road, where the children playing there said to one another, “Move away! The usury-consuming Ḥabīb is coming. May the dust from his feet not fall upon us, resulting in us also becoming unfortunate.”

This was the second wake-up call for him, and his heart had completely melted at this point. So, he went to Sayyidunā Ḥasan al-Baṣrī رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه at once and sincerely repented from all his sins.

After repenting, he was returning home when he saw the same children playing. However, this time they said to each other, “Ḥabīb is