We were among the people of Madinah who cultivated the most land. We used to rent out land in exchange for a designated portion of its produce set aside for the landowner. Sometimes that portion would be ruined while the rest of the land's produce was safe, and other times the rest of the land's produce would be ruined while that portion remained safe. So we were forbidden from this. As for renting in exchange for gold and silver, that was not practiced in those days.
كنا أكثر أهل المدينة مزروعا، كنا نكري الأرض بالناحية منها مسمى لسيد الأرض. قال: فمما يصاب ذلك، وتسلم الأرض، ومما يصاب الأرض، ويسلم ذلك، فنهينا. وأما الذهب والورق فلم يكن يومئذ.
Bukhari narrated it in "Farming and Sharecropping" (2327), from Muhammad, he said, Abdullah informed us, he said, Yahya bin Saeed informed us, from Hanzala bin Qays al-Ansari, who heard Rafi bin Khadij, and he related it.His statement, "As for gold and silver, they were not around in those days," means they were not abundant.