البطيخ بالرطب
Another reported cooling-and-warming food pairing, watermelon eaten together with fresh dates.
كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَأْكُلُ الْبِطِّيخَ بِالرُّطَبِ
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to eat watermelon together with fresh dates.” (meaning, not a literal translation)
This report follows the same structure as the cucumber-and-dates hadith covered separately on this site — a directly observed habit rather than a stated instruction — and the two are frequently discussed together in the commentary tradition as examples of the same underlying dietary principle applied to different fruit.
As with cucumber and dates, Ibn al-Qayyim explains the appeal of pairing a cooling, water-rich fruit with a dense, warming one. He notes watermelon specifically as one of the most cooling foods in the classical framework, making the pairing with dates a particularly deliberate balance rather than a coincidental preference.
Watermelon is over 90% water by weight and is recognized in modern nutrition as a hydrating, low-calorie fruit, which aligns loosely with the classical "cooling" description even though the underlying frameworks (humoral theory vs. modern nutrition science) are entirely different systems of explanation.