ripeness, it would not be valid. But if he sells the date palm while it bears fruit, the sale is valid. Thus, if he sells such things as vegetables, cucumbers, and the like together with their underlying plants, this is permissible. For example, if a person owns a plot of land entirely planted with melons, and someone comes wishing to buy those melons and purchases them together with their plants, this is permissible. Whatever appears after the sale belongs to the purchaser, and whatever grows after the sale likewise belongs to the purchaser, because what branches off follows the underlying basis, not the reverse.
His statement, “unless immediate cutting is stipulated”: if he sells fruit before its ripeness has appeared and the purchaser stipulates that he will cut it immediately, this is permissible, because the purchaser does not intend to leave it until it ripens. However, in this case it is a condition that the fruit be something from which benefit may be derived if it is cut immediately. If it is not something that can be put to use, then the sale is invalid, since we have previously mentioned that one of the conditions of a sale is that it concern an item possessing lawful benefit.
Thus, if he says, “I wish to buy these unripe dates from the palm tree and cut them now,” we say: the sale is valid, provided that these dates can be put to use. How can they be used? The answer is: as feed for livestock, for birds, perhaps in experiments, or the like. The point is that if fruit is sold before its ripeness has appeared on condition that it be cut, the sale is permissible, provided that it can be put to use if cut immediately; otherwise, it is not permissible.
An example is where someone sells a crop whose ears have formed but whose grain has not yet hardened, and the seller stipulates that the purchaser harvest it immediately. The sale is permissible on condition that it can be put to use. When a crop is cut before its grain hardens, it may be used as fodder. This may serve the interests of both seller and purchaser: the purchaser may need it as feed for animals, while the seller may need the land in order to build on it or plant another crop.
The jurists, may Allah have mercy on them, exempted the case where the fruit or crop is sold to the owner of the underlying plant; there is no problem in that. But how does one sell it to the owner of the underlying plant? For example, a farmer planted this land for its owner, then wished to sell it.