عَن سعيد بْنِ زَيْدٍ عَنِ
النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: «من أحيى أَرْضًا مَيْتَةً فَهِيَ لَهُ وَلَيْسَ لِعِرْقٍ ظَالِمٍ حق»
The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said:, “If anyone makes barren land fertile it belongs to him, but no right pertains to one who plants wrongfully in land another has brought into cultivation*”. Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it, and Malik transmitted it in mursal form on the authority of Urwa.
Tirmidhi said this is a hasan gharib tradition. *Irq zalim, the literal translation would be “a wrongful root.” The translation given above represents the general sense of the phrase.
Mishkat al-Masabih 2824, Book 12, Business Transactions, Hadith 180. 1 min read