Hadith 997 — Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: “No envy is justified except in two cases: a man to whom Allah has given the Quran so he recites and lives by it during the hours of the night and the hours of the day, and a man to whom Allah has given wealth so he spends it during the hours of the night and the hours of the day.” Agreed upon. The expression al-ānāʾ means “the hours.”

[Commentary]
The author (may Allah have mercy on him), in the chapter on the excellence of the Quran from Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, relates from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said, “No envy is justified except in two matters.” The scholars explain that ḥasad (envy) here carries the sense of ghibṭa—wholesome admiration free from malice—meaning that nothing truly deserves such admiration except these two. People, however, are accustomed to envying one another over worldly affairs as well as matters of the hereafter. You will find, for example, someone envying a man to whom Allah has granted money, children, family, palaces, cars, and the like, saying, “Now that is real good fortune; he is the one to be envied,” and similar remarks. Others envy a person for the sound health and sturdy physique Allah has given him, or for the honor and social standing he enjoys among his people—when he speaks, he is heard; when he acts, he is followed—so he says, “That is the one ….”