The Earth Vomits Forth Its Treasures Like Columns of Gold and Silver
In brief
Near the Hour, the earth will throw out the treasures hidden inside it, 'pieces of its liver', like great columns of gold and silver. Yet nobody will take any of it.
The Prophet ﷺ said the murderer will come and say, 'For this I killed.' The one who cut off his relatives will say, 'For this I cut my family ties.' The thief will say, 'For this my hand was cut off.' Then they will leave it and take nothing. It is tied to the time when wealth overflows, in the days of the Mahdi and Isa (AS), and the Hour is so close that gold has lost its worth.
Al-Nawawi explains 'pieces of its liver' as an Arabic picture for the most precious hidden veins of metal and buried hoards in the earth.
Never spill blood, sever kinship, or betray trust for worldly wealth that will soon be left behind untouched.
Where it sits in the sequence
Mu'adh ibn Jabal's narration gives this order: Jerusalem flourishes, Yathrib is in ruins, the great battle, the conquest of Constantinople, then the Dajjal (Sunan Abi Dawud 4294, graded hasan by al-Albani). Sahih Muslim 2897 places the battle at al-A'maq or Dabiq, then Constantinople, then the Dajjal. Sunan Abi Dawud 4292 puts a truce with the Romans before the battle. The narrations on the Mahdi do not state his place in this order.
Strongest narrations
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وَحَدَّثَنَا وَاصِلُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الأَعْلَى، وَأَبُو كُرَيْبٍ وَمُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَزِيدَ الرِّفَاعِيُّ - وَاللَّفْظُ لِوَاصِلٍ - قَالُوا حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ فُضَيْلٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي حَازِمٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " تَقِيءُ الأَرْضُ أَفْلاَذَ كَبِدِهَا أَمْثَالَ الأُسْطُوَانِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ فَيَجِيءُ الْقَاتِلُ فَيَقُولُ فِي هَذَا قَتَلْتُ . وَيَجِيءُ الْقَاطِعُ فَيَقُولُ فِي هَذَا قَطَعْتُ رَحِمِي . وَيَجِيءُ السَّارِقُ فَيَقُولُ فِي هَذَا قُطِعَتْ يَدِي ثُمَّ يَدَعُونَهُ فَلاَ يَأْخُذُونَ مِنْهُ شَيْئًا " .
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenaer (ﷺ) as saying:The earth will vomit long pieces of its liver like columns of gold and silver, and the murderer will come and say: It was for this that I committed murder. The breaker of family ties will come and say: It was for this that I broke the family ties; and the thief will come and say: It is for this that my hands were cut off. They will then leave it and will not take anything out of it
حَدَّثَنَا وَاصِلُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الأَعْلَى الْكُوفِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ فُضَيْلٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي حَازِمٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " تَقِيءُ الأَرْضُ أَفْلاَذَ كَبِدِهَا أَمْثَالَ الأُسْطُوَانِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ قَالَ فَيَجِيءُ السَّارِقُ فَيَقُولُ فِي مِثْلِ هَذَا قُطِعَتْ يَدِي وَيَجِيءُ الْقَاتِلُ فَيَقُولُ فِي هَذَا قَتَلْتُ وَيَجِيءُ الْقَاطِعُ فَيَقُولُ فِي هَذَا قَطَعْتُ رَحِمِي ثُمَّ يَدَعُونَهُ فَلاَ يَأْخُذُونَ مِنْهُ شَيْئًا " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ غَرِيبٌ لاَ نَعْرِفُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ هَذَا الْوَجْهِ .
Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah(s.a.w) said:" The earth will throw out pieces of its liver(in sides): liver; gold and silver will come out like columns." He said: "A thief will come and say: 'For this my hands were amputated?' A murderer will come and say: 'For this I killed?' One who severed ties of kinship will come and say: 'For this I severed the ties of kinship?' Then they will leave it without taking anything from it
What scholars have said
No scholar here cites it as having appeared
Imam Yahya An-Nawawi & Imam Al-QurtubiAn-Nawawi: d. 676 AH (631-676 AH)Al-Qurtubi: d. 671 AH (600-671 AH)
Explain that near the Hour, the earth will cast out its buried mineral deposits and treasures like great pillars of gold and silver, yet people will be so overwhelmed by the proximity of the Hour and the abundance of wealth that no one will take anything from them.
Sharh Sahih Muslim, on Hadith 1013; al-Tadhkirah
Present-day data
These numbers show the world today beside the narration. They do not decide whether the sign has appeared; that is shown only through named scholars, in the Scholars' views tab.
'The earth will throw up the pieces of its liver, like pillars of gold and silver'; the killer, the thief and the one who cut his ties will come and say 'for this I did it', then leave it, taking nothing (Sahih Muslim 1013). Gold has never been more prized than now; the narration describes a day when no one wants it.
Narrations behind this panel: Sahih Muslim 1013 · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2208
What the commentators said it means
- Some link it to the Euphrates uncovering a mountain of gold (Sahih al-Bukhari 7119); the commentators keep them apart and place both at the end, when wealth has lost its pull: al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim.
Read with care
- Mining and record gold prices are the opposite of the scene described, where gold lies untaken; the figure is context, not a sign of nearness.
Draft: figures and wording await a researcher's check and the scholar board.