days, then arrived at a village and landed on a wall, and a man called it and it answered him? He said: He must return it to its owner. It was said to him: What if he called it and it did not answer him, so he set a snare for it and caught it with it? He said: He must return it to its owner. He thus granted this to its owner because he had already owned it, and his ownership did not cease by it wandering away from him. The fish in the net, he had neither owned it nor captured it. Likewise, he granted what fell into the snare of the falcon, hawk, and eagle to the owner of the snare, and he did not grant it here to the one in whose snare it fell; because (19) this pertains to that which is known to have been owned by a person and then wandered off, and this is only known by report, or by the presence of what indicates ownership upon it, such as finding a strap on its leg, or signs of training (20), such as it responding to the one who calls it, and the like. Whenever there is nothing to indicate that it is owned, it belongs to the one who caught it, because the original state is the absence of ownership over it and its permissibility.
Section: Whoever has his clothes taken from the bathhouse and finds a replacement for them, or his sandals are taken and a replacement left for him, he does not own it by that action. Abu Abd Allah said regarding someone whose clothes were stolen and he found others: He should not take them. If he does take them, he must announce them for a year, then give them away in charity. He only said that because the thief of the clothes did not engage in an exchange with the owner that would necessitate the loss of ownership over his clothes. Thus, when he takes them, he has taken someone else's property without knowing the owner, so he must announce it like a lost item. It is possible to consider this matter: if there is a context indicating theft, such as his clothes or sandals being better than the ones left behind, and they were of a type that would not be confused by the one who took his clothes and sandals, then there is no need for announcement; because the announcement was only instituted (21) for wealth lost by its owner, so that he may learn of it and take it. The one who left these is aware of them and is satisfied with its replacement as compensation for what he took, and he does not recognize that it is his, so there is no benefit in announcing it. Since it is not explicitly mentioned, nor is it in the meaning of the explicitly mentioned, there are three opinions on what he should do with them: first, that he gives them in charity as we mentioned. Second, that it is permissible for him to take them; because its owner, in appearance, abandoned them for him, offering them as compensation for what he took, so it became like the one who permitted him to take them with his words, so he became like one who overcame
(19) In the original: "li-annahu". (20) In [M]: "al-ta'allum" (learning). (21) In the original: "yuj'alu".
أيام، فأتَى قَرْيَةً، فسَقَطَ على حائِطٍ، فدَعَاه رَجُلٌ فأجَابَه؟ قال: يَرُدُّه على صاحِبهِ. قيل له: فإن دَعَاهُ فلم يُجِبْه فنَصَبَ له شَرَكًا فصَادَه به؟ قال: يَرُدُّه على صاحِبِه. فجَعَلَ هذا لِصَاحِبه؛ لأنَّه قد مَلَكَه، فلم يَزُلْ مِلْكُه عنه بِذَهَابِه عنه، والسَّمَكَة في الشَّبَكةِ، لم يكُنْ مَلَكَها ولا حَازَها، وكذلك جَعَلَ ما وَقَعَ في الْحُبُولَةِ من البازِيِّ والصَّقْرِ والعُقَابِ لِصاحِبِ الحبُولَةِ، ولم يَجْعَلْه ههُنا لمن وَقَعَ في شَرَكِه؛ لأنَّ (١٩) هذا فيما عُلِمَ أنَّه قد كان مَمْلُوكًا لإِنسانٍ فذهَبَ، وإنَّما يُعلَمُ هذا بالخَبَرِ، أو بِوُجُودِ ما يَدُلُّ على المِلْكِ فيه، مثل وُجُودِ السَّيْرِ في رِجْلِه، أو آثارِ التَّعْلِيمِ (٢٠)، مثل اسْتِجَابَتِه للذى يَدْعُوه، ونحو ذلك. ومتى لم يُوجَدْ ما يَدُلُّ على أنَّه مَمْلُوكٌ، فهو لمن اصْطَادَه؛ لأنَّ الأصْلَ عَدَمُ المِلْكِ فيه وإبَاحَتُه.
فصل: ومن أُخِذَتْ ثِيَابُه من الحَمّام، ووَجَدَ بَدَلَها، أو أُخِذَ مَدَاسُه، وتُرِكَ له بَدَلُه، لم يَمْلِكْه بذلك. قال أبو عبدِ اللَّه، في مَن سُرِقَتْ ثِيَابُه وَوَجَدَ غيرَها: لم يَأْخُذْها، فإن أخَذَها عَرَّفَها سَنةً، ثم تَصَدَّقَ بها. إنَّما قال ذلك؛ لأنَّ سارِقَ الثِّيابِ لم تَجْرِ بينه وبين مالِكِها مُعَاوَضَةٌ تَقتَضِى زَوَالَ مِلْكِه عن ثِيَابِه، فإذا أخَذَها فقد أخَذَ مالَ غيرِه، ولم يَعْرِفْ صاحِبَه، فيُعَرِّفُه كاللُّقَطَةِ. ويَحْتَمِلُ أن يُنْظَرَ في هذا، فإن كانت ثَمَّ قَرِينَةٌ تَدُلُّ على السَّرِقَةِ، بأن تكونَ ثِيَابُه أو مَدَاسُه خَيْرًا من المَتْرُوكةِ، وكانت ممَّا لا تَشْتَبِهُ على الآخِذِ بِثِيَابِه ومَدَاسِه، فلا حاجَةَ إلى التَّعْرِيفِ؛ لأنَّ التَّعْرِيفَ إنَّما جُعِلَ (٢١) في المالِ الضائِعِ عن رَبِّه، لِيَعْلَمَ به ويَأْخُذَه، وتارِكُ هذا عالِمٌ به راضٍ بِبَدَلِه عِوَضًا عما أخَذَه، ولا يَعْتَرِفُ أنَّه له، فلا يَحْصُلُ في تَعْرِيفِه فائِدَةٌ، فإذا ليس هو بمَنْصُوصٍ عليه، ولا في مَعْنَى المَنْصُوصِ، وفيما يَصْنَعُ بها ثلاثةُ أَوْجُهٍ؛ أحدها، أنَّه يَتَصَدَّقُ بها على ما ذَكَرْنا. الثاني، أنَّه يُباحُ له أخْذُها؛ لأنَّ صاحِبَها في الظاهِرِ تَرَكَها له باذِلًا إيَّاها له عِوَضًا عما أخَذَه، فصارَ كالمُبِيحِ له أخْذَها بِلِسَانِه، فصارَ كمن قَهَرَ
(١٩) في الأصل: "لأنه".(٢٠) في م: "التعلم".(٢١) في الأصل: "يجعل".