Halima returned to her old habit.”

I have never forgotten, which my mother used to repeat often while talking to her neighbors, such as “Halima returned to her old habit.” So who is Halima? What is the story of the proverb?

The Arabs disagreed about the origin of this proverb and who said it the first time, and they mentioned four famous stories:

 The first story: There was a woman called Halima, and she was the wife of a well-known Arab poet who lived in pre-Islamic times and whose name was Hatem Al-Tai.

Hatem was famous for his generosity, while his wife, Halima, was famous for her miserliness. If she wanted to put ghee in her cooking, she would reduce it, so Hatem wanted to teach her generosity, so he told her that the ancients used to say that if a woman puts a spoonful of ghee in the cooking pot, God will increase her life by a day. So Halima started adding spoons of ghee to her cooking.

Until her food became good, and her hand became accustomed to generosity, and after a while, God wanted to give her grief with her only son, whom she loved more than herself, and after that she began reducing ghee when cooking until her lifespan decreased and she died, and people said at that time: Halima returned to her old habit. 

 The second story says that there was a poor Arab woman named Halima, who became rich, and decided to change her life by becoming wealthy. But despite living in palaces and having servants and modesty, she continued to practice the customs of the poor. Halima remained in her old habits despite the change in her circumstances.

 The third story : It was said that it happened in the Levant. The story says that Halima was a very young girl and she urinated on her bed every day. After the girl grew up and became a bride, on the wedding day, Halima was late in her room and did not leave, and she stayed there for a long time. The groom’s family waited for her for a long time, but she insisted on staying and refused to go out. When her mother entered her room looking for the reason, she realized that she had wet the bed and was embarrassed to go out. So what did the mother of the bride do so that the groom and his family would not notice the matter? She said: Halima returned to her old habit…..