Arabic (Original)
وَأَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ ثنا أَبُو الْعَبَّاسِ ثنا مُحَمَّدٌ ثنا أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ ثنا ابْنُ الْغَسِيلِ أَخْبَرَنِي عِكْرِمَةُ قَالَ أَرْسَلَ إِلِيَّ عُمَرُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ فَقَالَ إِنِّي حَلَفْتُ أَنْ لَا أَصْنَعَ حِينًا كَذَا وَكَذَا فَمَا الْحِينُ الَّذِي لَا يُدْرَكُ؟ قَالَ فَقَرَأَ {هَلْ أَتَى عَلَى الْإِنْسَانِ حِينٌ مِنَ الدَّهْرِ} [الإنسان 1] مَا يَدْرِي كَمْ أَتَى مُنْذُ خَلَقَهُ اللهُ وَأَمَّا الْحِينُ الَّذِي يُدْرَكُ قَوْلُ اللهِ تَعَالَى {تُؤْتِي أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ} [إبراهيم 25] مَا بَيْنَ صِرَامِ النَّخْلِ إِلَى ثَمَرِهَا
English Translation
Ikrimah reported: Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz sent for me and asked: I swore that I would not do such-and-such for a 'hin.' What is the 'hin' that cannot be determined? He recited: 'Has there not come upon man a period (hin) of time?' - no one knows how long it was since Allah created him. As for the 'hin' that can be determined, Allah says: 'Yielding its fruit every hin' - from the harvesting of dates to their next fruiting.