the equality in work, so it is here all the more permissible. If one says: "Whoever returns my lost item shall have a dinar," and three people return it, then the dinar belongs to them in thirds; because they shared in the work for which the compensation is earned, so they share in the compensation, just like wages in ijarah. If it is said: "Is it not the case that if he said, 'Whoever enters this tunnel shall have a dinar,' and a group enters it, each one of them is entitled to a full dinar; so why is it not like that here?" We respond: Because each one of those who entered performed a full entry, like the entry of an individual, so he is entitled to the full compensation, whereas here, no one of them returned it completely; rather, they shared in it, so they shared in its compensation. The parallel to the case of entry is as if he had said: "Whoever returns one of my slaves shall have a dinar," and each of them returned a slave. The parallel to the case of returning is as if he had said: "Whoever breaches the wall shall have a dinar," and three people breached it with one breach. If he designated a dinar for one person for returning it, two dinars for another, and three for a third, and the three returned it, each of them is entitled to one-third of what was designated for him; because he performed one-third of the work, so he is entitled to one-third of the specified amount. If he designated a dinar for one person and an unknown compensation for the other two, and they returned it together, then the owner of the dinar gets one-third, and the others get the wage for their work. If he designated something for one person for returning it, and he returned it along with two others, and they said, "We returned it as assistance to him," he is entitled to the entire reward, and they get nothing. If they said, "We returned it to take the compensation for ourselves," then they get nothing, and he has one-third of the reward; because he performed one-third of the work, so he is entitled to one-third of the reward, and the other two are not entitled to anything; because they performed the work without a reward. This is the entire position of al-Shafi'i, and I know of no disagreement regarding it.

Section: If he said, "Whoever returns my slave from such-and-such city shall have a dinar," and a person returns him from halfway along the road to that city, he is entitled to half the reward; because he performed half the work. Likewise, if he said: