or another person. If he himself is the first digger, then granting him fifty cubits is clear, since he exerted himself over it twice. But if it was another person, it may be said that the first acquired twenty-five cubits and the second acquired twenty-five cubits, making fifty cubits on every side. Thus, the first twenty-five are due to the first person’s digging, and the second twenty-five are due to the second person’s digging.

The imam may grant uncultivated land to someone who will reclaim it, but the recipient does not thereby own it. He may also grant the right to sit in broad public roads, so long as this does not harm people; the recipient then has the greater right to occupy that place. Even without such a grant, whoever first occupies a place has the greater right to it for as long as his goods remain there, even if this is prolonged. ......

His statement, “The imam may”: When the jurists say “the imam,” they mean the supreme ruler—that is, the one whose authority extends over the entire state, such as a king in a monarchy, a president in a republic, and the like. Whoever holds supreme authority is, in the terminology of the scholars, the imam, because people follow him and obey what he commands, provided it does not involve disobedience to Allah. Everyone who serves as a leader is an imam. Hence, we call the one who leads us in the congregational prayer an imam, because we follow his direction: we do not say the takbir until he says it, we do not bow until he bows, and when he rises, we rise; when he prostrates, we prostrate.

His statement, “grant uncultivated land to someone who will reclaim it”: Granting it means, for example, that he says, “So-and-so, this land is yours; reclaim it.” If the grantee reclaims it, he owns it. If he does not reclaim it, he has a greater right to it than anyone else. Thus, the grantee is like one who has merely marked out land for reclamation, not like one who has actually reclaimed it.

When they say, “The imam may,” the preposition indicates permissibility: that is, he is not prohibited from making such a grant. Yet it may be obligatory, and it may be forbidden. It is obligatory for him when someone eager to reclaim the land comes forward and is able to reclaim it. In that case, the imam must grant it to him, so that the lands do not remain neglected and so that this applicant may benefit.