diff --git a/pypdf/_page.py b/pypdf/_page.py
index 32de40299..80d98287b 100644
--- a/pypdf/_page.py
+++ b/pypdf/_page.py
@@ -1826,10 +1826,12 @@ def process_operation(operator: bytes, operands: List) -> None:
                                 ]
                             )
                         # "\u0590 - \u08FF \uFB50 - \uFDFF"
-                        for x in "".join(
-                            [cmap[1][x] if x in cmap[1] else x for x in t]
-                        ):
-                            xx = ord(x)
+                        for x in [cmap[1][x] if x in cmap[1] else x for x in t]:
+                            # x can be a sequence of bytes ; ex: habibi.pdf
+                            if len(x) == 1:
+                                xx = ord(x)
+                            else:
+                                xx = 1
                             # fmt: off
                             if (
                                 # cases where the current inserting order is kept
diff --git a/tests/test_page.py b/tests/test_page.py
index 47919286a..aa882ea68 100644
--- a/tests/test_page.py
+++ b/tests/test_page.py
@@ -877,10 +877,14 @@ def test_empyt_password_1088():
     len(reader.pages)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.xfail(reason="#1088 / #1126")
-def test_arab_text_extraction():
+@pytest.mark.external
+def test_old_habibi():
+    # this habibi has som multiple characters associated with the h
     reader = PdfReader(SAMPLE_ROOT / "015-arabic/habibi.pdf")
-    assert reader.pages[0].extract_text() == "habibi حَبيبي"
+    txt = reader.pages[0].extract_text()  # very odd file
+    assert (
+        "habibi" in txt and "حَبيبي" in txt
+    )  # extract from acrobat reader "حَبيبي habibi􀀃􀏲􀎒􀏴􀎒􀎣􀋴
 
 
 @pytest.mark.samples
@@ -1016,7 +1020,7 @@ def test_merge_resources(apage1, apage2, expected_result, expected_renames):
 
         # Assert
         assert result == expected_result
-        assert renames == expected_renames
+    assert renames == expected_renames
 
 
 def test_merge_page_resources_smoke_test():