❝Halima has gone back to her old (bad) habits.❞

This is an Arabic proverb that is used when we speak about a person who has a bad habit that they keep going back to. or to describe someone who struggles to break bad habits but is unable to do so and keeps going back to them.

There is an old story about a man famous for his generosity towards his guests. This man, Hatim Al-Taie, had a wife named Halima who was not like at him at all in this regard; she was a very stingy person. One day, Hatim told his wife, Halima, that generosity prolongs a person’s life. After hearing this, she set out to become exceedingly generous in order to attain long life. However, after one of her close relatives died, she became extremely saddened and wished to die. As a result, she returned again to being very stingy, believing that it would hasten her death. It was at that point that people began saying about her: “Halima is back to her old habits!” Thus, the story grew into a popular proverb Arabs all over the globe use to describe anyone who improves for a bit only to return back to their old habits.