Arba'un 47 — no worse vessel than the belly
الأربعون 47 — ما ملأ آدمي وعاء شراً من بطن
The hadith of al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib that he heard the Messenger of God ﷺ say 'no human has filled a vessel worse than the belly; enough for the son of Adam are morsels that keep his back upright, and if he must, then a third for his food, a third for his drink and a third for his breath' — the fifth of Ibn Rajab's added hadiths, transmitted by Ahmad (4/132) and al-Tirmidhi (2380) through Yahya ibn Jabir al-Ta'i from al-Miqdam, al-Tirmidhi grading it hasan, al-Nasa'i in the Kubra through this route and through Salih ibn Yahya ibn al-Miqdam from his grandfather, Ibn Majah (3349) through another route, with further paths including Habib ibn Ubayd's in al-Tabarani; it was also narrated with its occasion in Abu al-Qasim al-Baghawi's Mu'jam through Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Muraqqa': the Messenger of God conquered Khaybar while its fruit was green, the people gorged on the fruit and fever seized them, and when they complained he said 'fever is death's harbinger and God's prison on earth, and a piece of the Fire — when it takes you, cool water in the water-skins and pour it over you between the two prayers', meaning sunset and evening, which they did and it left them; then he said 'God created no vessel that when filled is worse than a belly — if it must be, make a third for food, a third for drink and a third for air' — transmitted by al-Tabarani, al-Bayhaqi in Dala'il al-nubuwwa and al-Qada'i in Musnad al-Shihab through al-Mukhabbar ibn Harun from Abu Yazid al-Muqri' from Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Muraqqa', the isnad containing criticism though some clauses have corroborants (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam pp. 891–900).
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«ما ملأ آدمي وعاء شراً من بطن بحسب ابن آدم أكلات يقمن صلبه فإن كان لا محالة فثلث لطعامه وثلث لشرابه وثلث لنفسه»
A verbatim excerpt of the text, forty words at most; the full text is in the edition cited under sources
Connections
- Mentions
- al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib
- Basis for
- Eating little
People and things also explored
Renunciation (zuhd)· Eating little· al-Miqdam ibn Ma'dikarib
Sources
- Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Arba'un 47 — no worse vessel than the belly”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/passage/arbaun-47/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.