Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 12393

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I give you glad tidings of the Mahdi. He will be sent at a time of disagreement, he will be sent at a time of disagreement among people and of earthquakes. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it had been filled with tyranny and oppression. The dwellers of the heavens and the dwellers of the earth will be pleased with him, and he will distribute wealth properly. A man said to him: What is meant by properly? He said: Equally among the people. And Allah Almighty will fill the hearts of the Ummah of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) with contentment, and his justice will suffice for them, until he orders a caller, and the caller will announce and say: Does anyone need wealth? Only one man from among the people will stand up and say: I (need it). The Mahdi will say: Go to the treasurer and say to him: The Mahdi orders you to give me wealth. That man will say this to him, and the treasurer will say: Fill up with both your hands. He will fill them, then out of regret he will say: Am I the greediest of the Ummah of Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? Or why does what suffices for them not suffice for me? Then he will want to return that wealth, but it will not be accepted from him, and it will be said to him: We do not take back what we have given. So the Mahdi will rule in this way for seven years, or eight years, or nine years; then after him there will be no good in living (the narrator is in doubt; perhaps the words are:) after him there will be no good in life." (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say:
Al-Tirmidhi and others recorded it in greatly abridged form.
Ahmad recorded it with various chains, and Abu Ya'la in greatly abridged form; the narrators of both are thiqat (trustworthy).