This concept extracts the transferable moral of the anecdote in which a caliph, while sharing a meal with a Bedouin, notices a single hair on the Bedouin's morsel and orders him to pick it off. The Bedouin refuses to keep eating, saying that no one can eat at the table of a host who watches a guest's mouthful so closely that he can spot a hair in it, and he swears never to return.

Core Themes

• The Host's Restraint: A generous host must avert his gaze from what a guest consumes; scrutinizing or tallying each morsel turns hospitality into surveillance.
• The Guest's Dignity: Being watched while eating shames the guest and voids the honor of the shared table.
• Magnanimity versus Pettiness: The closing verses contrast open-handed hospitality with the meanness of counting a guest's bites under lowered eyelids.