Habib wanted to buy a donkey, so he went to the market, stopped by a donkey he liked,and said to his owner, after an argumentover the price, "That's all I have with menow, so either you sell me the donkey, or I'llbe on my way."
Finally the man agreed, and Habib left,dragging the donkey behind him.
Two thieves saw him, and they agreed tosteal the donkey. One of them crept uplightly and untied the rope from thedonkey's neck without Habib feeling athing. Then the thief tied the rope around hisown neck. Through all this, Habib feltnothing of what was going on.
The thief walked behind Habib while theother thief walked with the donkey, and thepeople passing by saw this and marveled atthe sight and laughed.
Habib marveled at himself and said, "Perhaps their admiration and laughter aredue to the fact that they admire my donkey."
When Habib arrived at his house, heturned around toward the donkey, and hesaw the man, who was crying. The rope wason his neck, and Habib was amazed at hiscondition and said to him, "Who are you?"
The thief stopped crying and wiped histears, saying, "Sir, I am an ignorant man. Iangered my mother."
Habib said, "And then what?"
The thief said, "So my mother prayedover me and asked God to curse me andtransform me into a donkey, and Godanswered her prayer. When my big brothersaw this, he wanted to get rid of me, so heput me up for sale in the market. Then youcame and bought me, and with your blessingand your caring, I returned to being human,as I was!" And the thief took Habib's hand,praying his thanks to God.
Habib befriended him, and he set himfree after advising him to obey his motherand to beg her forgiveness and prayers.
The next day, Habib returned to themarket to buy a donkey, and he saw thesame donkey and recognized him. Habibapproached the donkey and whispered in hisear, saying, "Obviously you did not hear mywords, and you angered your mother asecond time. By God, I will never buy you!"