The followers of the Prophet Mohammed say that eating a watermelon produces a thousand good works! That's food for reflection, whether or not it's summer, when eating watermelons is one of the seasons' delights. . . .
The above Islamic saying comes from a culture where watermelons are eaten mostly out-of-doors. In the process of eating one, the seeds drop to the ground and so are the source of countless other watermelon plants. But the expression contains more than just folklore for increasing the local crop of watermelons.
— Edward Hays, Feathers on the Wind