An early report preserved by al-Fakihi states that Habib Abu Muhammad al-Ajami, may Allah have mercy on him, was seen in Basra on Yawm al-Tarwiya and then seen at Arafat on the evening of Arafah. Abu Nu'aym and al-Lalaka'i also preserve the same basic report in later classical works. The wording is brief and simply records the two sightings without explaining how the journey occurred. The story is therefore best told exactly in that simple sequence.
Al-Fakihi preserves a brief and striking report about Habib Abu Muhammad al-Ajami, may Allah have mercy on him, during the days of Hajj. The account first says that Habib was seen in Basra on Yawm al-Tarwiya, the day when pilgrims prepare to move toward the sacred sites. No speech from Habib is recorded at this point, and the report gives only the fact of his being seen there.
The story then moves immediately to Arafat. The same report states that Habib was seen at Arafat on the evening of Arafah. The source does not explain the route he took, the exact time of travel, or the means by which he moved from one place to the other. Its force lies in the closeness of the two reported sightings within the Hajj days.
Al-Fakihi records this account in Akhbar Makka, making it one of the early written preservations of the story. Abu Nu'aym later includes the same basic wording in his biographical work on the saints and ascetics, and al-Lalaka'i also preserves the episode in a chapter dealing with the karamat of Habib al-Ajami.
Later biographical works continued to repeat the same concise picture. They did not turn the story into a long travel narrative or add a detailed explanation of what happened between Basra and Arafat. The enduring form remained simple: Habib was seen in Basra on Yawm al-Tarwiya and then seen at Arafat on the evening of Arafah.
That simplicity is important when retelling the event. The classical wording does not name the people who saw him, nor does it preserve a first-person explanation from Habib himself. For that reason, the public story should not add imagined scenes of flight, instant travel, or simultaneous presence that the transmitted wording does not itself describe.
Read in the form in which it has been preserved, the account is a short karamah report associated with Habib al-Ajami. Its memorable feature is the reported change of place across the Hajj days: first Basra, then Arafat. The classical sources preserve that sequence without explaining the mechanism, and the story is best left with the same restraint.
The story then moves immediately to Arafat. The same report states that Habib was seen at Arafat on the evening of Arafah. The source does not explain the route he took, the exact time of travel, or the means by which he moved from one place to the other. Its force lies in the closeness of the two reported sightings within the Hajj days.
Al-Fakihi records this account in Akhbar Makka, making it one of the early written preservations of the story. Abu Nu'aym later includes the same basic wording in his biographical work on the saints and ascetics, and al-Lalaka'i also preserves the episode in a chapter dealing with the karamat of Habib al-Ajami.
Later biographical works continued to repeat the same concise picture. They did not turn the story into a long travel narrative or add a detailed explanation of what happened between Basra and Arafat. The enduring form remained simple: Habib was seen in Basra on Yawm al-Tarwiya and then seen at Arafat on the evening of Arafah.
That simplicity is important when retelling the event. The classical wording does not name the people who saw him, nor does it preserve a first-person explanation from Habib himself. For that reason, the public story should not add imagined scenes of flight, instant travel, or simultaneous presence that the transmitted wording does not itself describe.
Read in the form in which it has been preserved, the account is a short karamah report associated with Habib al-Ajami. Its memorable feature is the reported change of place across the Hajj days: first Basra, then Arafat. The classical sources preserve that sequence without explaining the mechanism, and the story is best left with the same restraint.
Conclusion
The report ends with Habib al-Ajami being seen at Arafat after having been seen in Basra on Yawm al-Tarwiya, leaving the extraordinary sequence itself as the heart of the story.
Sources
al-Fakihi, Akhbar Makka, report 2737
al-Fakihi, Akhbar Makka, report 2737
Abdah ibn Abd al-Rahim -> Damra ibn Rabi'a -> al-Sari ibn Yahya
Abu Nu'aym, Hilyat al-Awliya, Habib al-Farisi/al-Ajami section
al-Lalaka'i, Sharh Usul I'tiqad Ahl al-Sunna, report 193
Ikmal Tahdhib al-Kamal, Habib al-Ajami entry: attributes wording to Ahmad's al-Zuhd
al-Fakihi, Abu Nu'aym and al-Lalaka'i all preserve Damra -> al-Sari core
al-Mizzi, Tahdhib al-Kamal, Habib al-Ajami entry
al-Dhahabi, Siyar A'lam al-Nubala, Habib al-Ajami
CAND-0171 Task 1 evidence synthesis