Hakim ibn Hizam — “This Property Is Like a Sweet Fresh Fruit”
Hakim ibn Hizam — "This Property Is Like a Sweet Fresh Fruit"
Hakim ibn Hizam — "This Property Is Like a Sweet Fresh Fruit"
Hakim ibn Hizam asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for something — and the Prophet ﷺ gave it to him. Then he asked again. And then again. Hakim himself tells it, in the narration of 'Urwa bin Az-Zubair and Sa'id bin Al-Musaiyab:
"I asked Allah's Messenger (for something) and he gave it to me. Again I asked and he gave (it to me). Again I asked and he gave (it to me)."
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472
Three times he asked, and three times he received; the Prophet ﷺ never turned him away. But after the third gift came something worth far more than anything Hakim had been given — a teaching about wealth itself:
> «إِنَّ هَذَا الْمَالَ خَضِرَةٌ حُلْوَةٌ»
"O Hakim! This property is like a sweet fresh fruit; whoever takes it without greediness, he is blessed in it, and whoever takes it with greediness, he is not blessed in it"
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472
"and he is like a person who eats but is never satisfied; and the upper (giving) hand is better than the lower (receiving) hand."
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472
> «الْيَدُ الْعُلْيَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْيَدِ السُّفْلَى»
Those words changed Hakim on the spot. He answered the Prophet ﷺ with an oath:
"By Him (Allah) Who sent you with the Truth, I shall never accept anything from anybody after you, till I leave this world."
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472
And he kept that oath for the rest of his life. In the days of Abu Bakr's caliphate:
"Then Abu Bakr (during his caliphate) called Hakim to give him his share from the war booty (like the other companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) ), he refused to accept anything."
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472
Then came the caliphate of 'Umar. "Then `Umar (during his caliphate) called him to give him his share but he refused."
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472
'Umar even called the people to witness that the refusal was Hakim's, not his:
"O Muslims! I would like you to witness that I offered Hakim his share from this booty and he refused to take it."
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472
It was his own rightful share, offered to him by two caliphs — and still he would not take a thing, because of a promise made in one gathering with the Prophet ﷺ. The narration ends with a line that covers an entire lifetime:
"So Hakim never took anything from anybody after the Prophet (ﷺ) till he died."
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472
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🌿 Stop and Think About This Scene
Notice the order of events. The Prophet ﷺ did not begin by refusing Hakim or lecturing him — he gave, and gave, and gave. Only after the third gift did he teach. And that one teaching, heard at the right moment, did what the gifts themselves never could: it set Hakim free from asking for the rest of his life.
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❤️ The Greatest Lesson
Wealth is sweet, like a fresh fruit — but its blessing is not in how much of it we gather. Whoever takes it without greed is blessed in it, and whoever takes it with greed is "like a person who eats but is never satisfied". The sweetness turns to blessing only in a heart that is not greedy.
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📚 Important Lessons From This Hadith
1. What is taken without greediness is blessed, and what is taken with greediness is not — the Prophet ﷺ stated both sides plainly.
2. Greed is a hunger that eating cannot fill: the greedy person is "like a person who eats but is never satisfied".
3. Giving stands higher than receiving: "the upper (giving) hand is better than the lower (receiving) hand".
4. A vow made honestly can govern a whole lifetime — Hakim refused even his rightful share from Abu Bakr and from 'Umar rather than break the oath he made before the Prophet ﷺ.
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🏠 How Can We Apply This Hadith in Our Daily Lives?
When something comes to us — a wage, a gift, an opportunity — take it without greed, and be thankful for whatever portion Allah has written. Train the heart to be a giving hand whenever we are able, not only a receiving one. And when we make a promise, let Hakim be our example: he heard one sentence about greed, swore one oath, and protected it until his last day.
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🌹 The Most Beautiful Message
Hakim asked three times and received three times — but what he truly carried away from that gathering was not the gifts. It was one sentence about a sweet fruit and a greedy heart, and he guarded it until he died.
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📖 Authentic Reference
Sahih al-Bukhari 1472 — Chapter: To abstain from begging — Grade: Sahih — Sahih al-Bukhari 1472