In another wording recorded by Muslim: “Hold on to your wealth and do not spoil it, for whoever grants an ʿumrā, it belongs to the one for whom it was granted, both in life and after death, and to his descendants.”

Glossary
ʿumrā: pronounced with a ḍamma on the ʿayn, a quiescent mīm, and a final alif maqṣūrah. The word is derived from ʿumr (life), because in pre-Islamic times a man would give another a house or the like and say, “I have granted it to you as an ʿumrā,” meaning, “I permit you to use it for the length of your life.”
aʿmara: with a ḍamma on the first letter and a kasrah on the mīm; passive voice.

Overall meaning
ʿUmrā—and its counterpart raqbā—are two kinds of gift that were practiced in the Days of Ignorance. A man would give another a house or other property with the words, “I grant it to you as an ʿumrā,” or, “I give it to you for the span of your life or mine.” They would then wait for the donee to die so they could reclaim the gift.

The Sharīʿah affirmed the gift itself but invalidated its customary condition, namely reversion of ownership, because the one who takes back his gift is like a dog that vomits and then returns to its vomit. For this reason the Prophet ﷺ ruled that an ʿumrā belongs to the person for whom it was granted and, after him, to his offspring.

He ﷺ urged them to safeguard their property—since they assumed the condition was not binding and that they could reclaim the gift—by saying: “Hold on to your wealth and do not spoil it, for whoever grants an ʿumrā, it belongs to the one for whom it was granted, in life and in death, and to his descendants.”

This ruling stands unless the donor explicitly stipulates that it is for the donee only while he remains alive; in that case, “the Muslims are bound by their conditions,” and the ʿumrā takes the ruling of an ʿāriyah (gratuitous loan of use). Even so, the donor may not retract it—neither during the donee’s life nor after his death—because fulfilling one’s promise is obligatory, and reneging is among the prohibited traits of the hypocrites.

Scholarly disagreement
ʿUmrā takes three forms:

1. It may be perpetual, as when the donor says, “It is yours and your descendants’ after you.”
2. It may be unrestricted, as when he says, “It is yours for as long as you live,” or, “for as long as I live.” The majority of scholars deem these two forms valid and perpetual, and this is also the position of some Hanbalīs.
3. In the third form, the donor stipulates that he will take it back upon the death of either party. Is that condition valid, or is it nullified so that the gift becomes perpetual? A number of scholars—including al-Zuhrī, Mālik, Abū Thawr, and Dāwūd—held the condition to be valid. This is one of the reported views of Imam Aḥmad and was preferred by Shaykh al-Islām and other Hanbalī scholars, based on the hadith, “The Muslims are bound by their conditions.”