ry
generous, and has sent all that you see here, with this message that you
are to go on working, and he will continue to pay you." Hearing this,
Habib became more confirmed than ever in his resolve to give up the
world and to live to God.

One day Hasan Basri paid Habib a visit in his hermitage. The latter had
two barley loaves and a little salt, which he placed before his guest.
Just as the latter was commencing to eat and in the act of stretching
out his hand, a dervish appeared at the door and asked for alms. Habib
immediately handed him the two loaves. Hasan, somewhat ruffled, said,
"Habib, you are a good man, but you would be none the worse for a little
culture and intelligence. Don't you know that one ought never to take
food away from before a guest? At any rate, you might have given one of
those loaves to the dervish, and left the other." Habib made no reply.
Some minutes afterwards a man came carrying in a napkin a roast lamb, a
large plate of sweetmeats, and some money. He set them before Habib and
said, "Sir, so and so sends you these with his compliments." Habib and
Hasan made a hearty meal, and Habib distributed the money to some
passing mendicants. Then he said to Hasan Basri, "My master, you are a
good man, but it would have been better had you shown more sincerity in
this matter, for then you would have possessed both knowledge and
sincerity, and the two go well together."

On another occasion Hasan Basri arrived at Habib's hermitage just as the
latter was commencing his evening prayers. Hearing him pronounce the
words "al hamdu[32]" as "al hemdu," Hasan said to himself, "This man
cannot pronounce the words of the Koran properly; it is impossible to
pray with him," and he said his prayers apart. That same night he saw
the Lord in a dream, and asked him, "Lord, what must I do to gain Thy
approval." An answer came, "O Hasan, thou hadst gained it, but didst not
appreciate its value. Thou shouldest have prayed with Habib Ajami. Such
a prayer would have had more worth than all those which thou hast made
in the course of thy life. The tongues of others may speak rightly, but
the heart of Habib feels rightly."

One day Hasan Basri, flying from the agents of Hejjaj ibn Yusuf, the
bloodthirsty governor of Irak, took refuge in Habib's hermitage. The
pursuers, arriving, asked Habib whether Hasan had passed that way. "No,"
he said, "he is here in my dwelling." They entered, and seeing no one
said to Habib, "O Ha