When the revenues of Bahrain arrive, I shall give you this much and this much and this much
Authentic hadithعن جابر رضي الله عنه قَالَ: قال لِي النبي -صلَّى الله عليه وسلَّم-: «لَوْ قدْ جَاءَ مَال البَحرين أَعْطَيتُكَ هَكَذَا وهكذا وهكذا»، فَلَمْ يَجِئْ مَالُ البَحرَينِ حَتَّى قُبِضَ النَّبي -صلَّى الله عليه وسلَّم- فلمَّا جَاء مَالُ البحرينِ أمر أبو بكر رضي الله عنه فَنَادَى: مَنْ كَانَ لَهُ عِندَ رسُول الله -صلَّى الله عليه وسلَّم- عِدَةٌ أَو دَينٌ فَلْيَأتِنَا، فَأَتَيتُهُ وقُلتُ لَهُ: إِنَّ النبيَّ -صلَّى الله عليه وسلَّم- قال لِي كَذَا وكذا، فَحَثَى لِي حَثِيَّةً فَعَدَدتُهَا، فَإِذَا هِيَ خَمسُمِئَةٍ، فَقَال لي: خُذْ مِثلَيهَا.
Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "When the revenues of Bahrain arrive, I shall give you this much and this much and this much." He passed away before the revenues were received. When they arrived during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), he called out: "Anyone whom the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) promised or owed anything should come to me." I went to him and said: "The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had said to me such-and-such." He took a double handful out of the money and gave it to me. I counted it and found that it was five hundred. Then he said to me: "Take twice as much more of that amount."
Explanation
Jābir ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) says in this Hadīth that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) promised to give him a plentiful amount of the money that would come from Bahrain. The money came during the caliphate of Abu Bakr, after the Prophet had passed away. Abu Bakr asked those whom the Prophet had promised to give gifts or to whom he owed things to come over. Indeed, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) might have purchased something from someone and owed him the price, or promised to give someone a certain grant. Jābir went to Abu Bakr and told him that the Prophet said that he would give him a certain amount when revenues came from Bahrain. Abu Bakr told him: 'Take.' So he scooped from the money with both hands and counted it, finding it to be five hundred. So Abu Bakr told him: "Take twice as much," because the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This much and this much and this much", meaning three times. Thus Abu Bakr fulfilled the Prophet's promise to Jābir.
Source · Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim
From the Hadith Encyclopedia (hadeethenc.com).