nonetheless, the ḥadīth is unobjectionable in view of the supporting reports cited above.
As for the narration of Ibn ʿUmar, it was recorded by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā in Kitāb al-Dhikr and by al-Ṭabarānī with the wording:
“Plant profusely in Paradise, for its water is sweet and its soil is wholesome—so plant therein abundantly.”
They asked, “Messenger of Allah, and what is its planting?” He replied—whatever Allah wills—“lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā bi-llāh (there is no might and no power except with Allah).”
Al-Munāwī cited the report in al-Targhīb and offered no comment. Al-Haythamī cited it solely through al-Ṭabarānī—omitting the phrase “whatever Allah wills”—and remarked (10/98): “It contains ʿUqbah ibn ʿAlī, and he is weak.”
The word qiʿān (sing. qāʿ) denotes a broad, level tract of low-lying ground upon which rainwater settles, retains its moisture, and whose vegetation grows evenly. End of citation.
- “O Emigrants! There are five matters with which you will be tested—and I seek refuge with Allah lest you live to see them: No indecency ever becomes widespread among a people so that they practise it openly but that pestilence and diseases unknown to their forefathers spread among them; they never give short measure or weight but that they are afflicted with drought, soaring costs of living, and the tyranny of their rulers; they never withhold the zakāt from their wealth but that the rain from …”