وَطاوي ثَلاثٍ عاصِبِ البَطنِ مُرمِلٍ

And one who has gone three days fasting, his belly bound tight with hunger, utterly destitute in a barren wasteland where no resident had ever left a trace.

A man soured by harshness, bearing a wild dread of humanity, who from his very surliness counts extreme misery a blessing.

He had left alone in a mountain ravine an old woman, and beside her three shadowy figures you would take for young lambs.

Barefoot and naked, they had never tasted the bread baked in hot ashes, nor known the flavor of wheat since the day they were created.

He saw a figure amid the darkness and it terrified him, but when it stood revealed as a guest, he tucked up his garments and set to work with urgent care.

He cried out, 'O Lord, a guest and no hospitality to offer! By Your right, do not deprive him of meat tonight!'

And his son said, when they stood bewildered by scarcity: 'O my father, slaughter me and make ready a meal for him!'

'And do not plead poverty, lest the newcomer who has alighted think us wealthy and heap wide mockery upon us!'

The father brooded a little while, then held back for a space; and if he did not slaughter his young boy, he had indeed come close to it.

While the two of them lingered, a herd of wild asses hove into view from afar, strung out neatly behind their leader.

Parched with thirst and seeking water, he crept stealthily toward them, though his own hunger for their blood was far greater than their thirst.

He gave them respite until the thirsty beasts had drunk their fill, then loosed an arrow among them from his quiver.

Down crashed a fat female with her young, bursting with meat and heavily layered in fat.

Oh, the joy of him when he dragged her toward his household! And oh, their joy when they saw her wound streaming blood!

They spent the night as nobles who had fulfilled the right of their guest, losing nothing of their own wealth yet gaining a rich prize.

And in his radiant warmth their father became a true father to their guest, and the mother, in her delight, a true mother.