Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
Qurʾān Bukhārī Muslim Nasāʾī Abū Dāwūd Tirmidhī Ibn Mājah Mālik Aḥmad Dārimī Ḥākim Ibn Ḥibbān Ṭabarānī Nasāʾī's Kubrá Bayhaqī al-Luʾluʾ wa-al-Marjān Ibn Rajab's Fifty Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn Aḥmad's Zuhd Suyūṭī
tabarani:17929 – Muṭṭalib b. Shuʿayb al-Azdī > ʿAbdullāh b. Ṣāliḥ > Yaḥyá b. Ayyūb > ʿUbaydullāh b. Zaḥr > Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī > al-Mustawrid

[Machine] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The likeness of this world compared to the hereafter is like that of a man who dips his finger in the sea and then takes it out. What does he bring back with him?"  

الطبراني:١٧٩٢٩ – حَدَّثَنَا مُطَّلِبُ بْنُ شُعَيْبٍ الْأَزْدِيُّ ثنا عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ صَالِحٍ ثنا يَحْيَى بْنُ أَيُّوبَ عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ بْنِ زَحْرٍ عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ الْهَمْدَانِيِّ عَنِ الْمُسْتَوْرِدِ

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ قَالَ «مَا مِثْلُ الدُّنْيَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ إِلَّا كَمَا يُدْخِلُ رَجُلٌ إِصْبَعَهُ فِي الْبَحْرِ ثُمَّ يُخْرِجُهَا فَبِمَ يَرْجِعُ؟»  

See similar narrations below:

Collected by Ḥākim
hakim:6510 – Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Salamah al-ʿAnazī > ʿUthmān b. Saʿīd al-Dārimī > ʿAbdullāh b. Ṣāliḥ > Yaḥyá b. Ayyūb > ʿUbaydullāh b. Zaḥr > Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī > al-Mustawrid b. Shaddād

[Machine] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The likeness of this world compared to the Hereafter is only like a man who dips his finger in the ocean, so what does he bring back with it?" Al-Dhahabi refrained from summarizing it.  

الحاكم:٦٥١٠ – أَخْبَرَنِي أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سَلَمَةَ الْعَنَزِيُّ ثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ الدَّارِمِيُّ ثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ صَالِحٍ حَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى بْنُ أَيُّوبَ عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ زَحْرٍ عَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ الْهَمْدَانِيِّ عَنِ الْمُسْتَوْرِدِ بْنِ شَدَّادٍ

أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ «مَا مَثَلُ الدُّنْيَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ إِلَّا كَمَا يُدْخِلُ رَجُلٌ إِصْبَعَهُ فَبِمَ يَرْجِعُ» سكت عنه الذهبي في التلخيص