Hadith Text
وَعَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «لَوْ أَنَّ لاِبْنِ آدَمَ وَادِياً مِنْ ذَهَبٍ أَحَبَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُ وَادِيَانِ، وَلَنْ يَمْلأَ فَاهُ إِلَّا التُّرَابُ، وَيَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَى مَنْ تَابَ». مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
Full Translation
On the authority of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them), that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“If the son of Adam had a valley of gold, he would wish to have two. And nothing will fill his mouth except the earth — and Allah turns in mercy toward whoever repents.”
Agreed upon.
Meanings of Key Words
- Wadi (وَادِياً) — a valley; not a coin, not a treasure chest — a valley, an entire geographical expanse filled with gold. The scale of the hypothetical is deliberately overwhelming
- Ahhabba an yakoona lahu wadiyaan (أَحَبَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُ وَادِيَانِ) — he would wish to have two; the moment the first is secured, the desire does not rest — it doubles immediately, automatically, without pause
- Lan yamla’a fahu illa al-turab (وَلَنْ يَمْلأَ فَاهُ إِلَّا التُّرَابُ) — nothing will fill his mouth except the earth; “fah (فَاهُ)” is his mouth — and the earth is the grave. The only thing that finally closes human desire is death itself
- Wa yatoob Allahu ‘ala man taba (وَيَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَى مَنْ تَابَ) — and Allah turns in mercy toward whoever repents; after the diagnosis — the cure
Hadith Lessons
This hadith is eleven words. It is placed here — at the end of the chapter on repentance — not as a standalone observation about greed, but as a diagnosis that explains why repentance is so hard and so necessary in the first place.
The Disease the Prophet ﷺ Is Naming
The hadith does not say: if a man is greedy, he will want more. It says: if the son of Adam — ibn Adam, any human being, by nature — had a valley of gold, he would want two. This is not a character flaw in some people. It is the structural condition of the human soul without spiritual correction.
The desire for more is not evil in itself — it is the engine of human effort and creativity. But when it operates without direction, without ceiling, without the recognition that it can never be satisfied by the world — it becomes the root of every sin this chapter has addressed. The man who sinned a hundred times, the man who delayed at Tabuk, the woman whose story closed the previous hadith — all of them, at some level, were chasing a valley that kept becoming two valleys the moment they arrived.
The Prophet ﷺ is not condemning the desire. He is naming its nature honestly: it has no natural end. Left to itself, desire simply multiplies. One valley secured becomes the starting point for wanting the next.
The Grave Closes What Life Cannot
“Nothing will fill his mouth except the earth.”
The Arabic “fah” is the mouth — the opening, the place of speech, of appetite, of desire expressed outward. And the only thing that finally fills it is the earth of the grave.
This is one of the most sobering images in the Sunnah — not because death is presented as punishment, but because it is presented as the only natural endpoint of a desire that nothing in the world can satisfy. Every human being chasing the second valley will eventually have their mouth filled with earth. The question is only whether they recognised this before or after.
The scholars say: this is precisely why repentance cannot be deferred indefinitely. The person who says “I will repent when I have enough” will never have enough — because that is the nature of the disease the Prophet ﷺ is describing. The second valley will always be visible on the horizon. The gargling of Hadith 18 will arrive before the feeling of “enough” ever does.
Why This Sentence Ends With Repentance
The final line — “and Allah turns in mercy toward whoever repents” — is not an afterthought. It is the cure placed immediately after the diagnosis.
The disease: desire that multiplies without end, that no valley can satisfy, that only death closes.
The cure: turning back to Allah — who is the only source large enough that the human soul, when it turns toward Him, finally finds rest from the chase.
This is why the chapter on repentance ends here. Not with a dramatic story of sin and forgiveness. Not with angels and thresholds and gates in the west. But with a single, quiet line about human nature — and the one direction in which the soul that understands its own condition will always turn.
The valley of gold will never be enough. Allah will.
Three Questions to Close With
- Where in my life am I currently chasing a second valley — convinced that one more achievement, one more acquisition, one more level will finally bring the satisfaction the first one didn’t?
- Have I ever experienced the feeling of “enough” through something worldly — or has every arrival simply revealed the next destination?
- Does understanding this hadith change the urgency with which I approach repentance — knowing that “when I have settled this worldly matter” may be a valley that keeps multiplying?