He came as part of a delegation to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asked him to grant him a piece of land. The Prophet ﷺ granted him a salt mine. As he was leaving, a man said, "Messenger of Allah ﷺ, do you know what you have granted him? You have granted him a perpetual source of water."So the Prophet ﷺ took it back from him.He also said, "I asked him about which arak trees may be designated as a protected reserve."The Prophet ﷺ replied, "Whatever lies beyond the reach of the camels' hooves."
أنه وفد إلى رسول الله ﷺ، فاستقطعه، فأقطعه الملح، فلما أدبر قال رجل: يا رسول الله ﷺ، أتدري ما أقطعته؟ إنما أقطعته الماء العد، قال: فرجع فيه. وقال: سألته عما يحمى من الأراك، فقال: ما لم تبلغه أخفاف الإبل.
Reported by Abu Dawud (3064), Tirmidhi (1380), Ibn Hibban (4499), and Daraqutni (4/221), all through the route of Muhammad bin Yahya bin Qays Marabi, who said, "My father narrated to us, from Thumama bin Shurahil, from Sumayy bin Qays, from Shumayr bin Abdul-Madan, from Abyad bin Hammal," and he related it. The wording given is that of Ibn Hibban. In some of the narrations it reads, "So he took it back from him." Sumayy bin Qays and Shumayr bin Abdul-Madan are both "acceptable" narrators, since each has corroborating narrators.It was also reported by Ibn Majah (2475), Darimi (2650), and Daraqutni, all from the hadith of Faraj bin Saeed bin Alqama bin Saeed bin Abyad bin Hammal Sabai Marabi, who said, "My uncle Thabit bin Saeed bin Abyad narrated to me, that his father Saeed bin Abyad told him, on the authority of Abyad bin Hammal, who told him." He related something similar, and added, "So the Prophet ﷺ granted him land and palm trees in Jawf, the Jawf of Murad, in place of it, when he took back from him what he had originally granted." Thabit bin Saeed bin Abyad is "acceptable" since he has a corroborating narrator.His saying, "flowing water," refers to water that is continuous and never runs dry, like the water of a spring or a well. Salt was likened to it because it too does not run out and is obtained without effort or hardship.His saying, "the Jawf," refers to a territory belonging to Murad, though it has also been said to mean the bottom of a valley.This hadith provides evidence that when a ruler issues a judgment about something and it later becomes clear to him that the truth lies in the opposite of it, he must retract it.