the foundling is claimed by “a group,” each one saying, “This is my son.” If one of them produces evidence that he is his son and that he was born upon his marital bed, then he belongs to him.

His statement, “otherwise, he is assigned to the one to whom the physiognomists attribute him,” means that if none of them has evidence, we present him to the physiognomists. Qāfah is the plural of qāʾif, just as ṣāghah is the plural of ṣāʾigh; they are people who identify lineages through physical resemblance. Banū Mudlij, an Arab tribe, were renowned for this. Hence, one day the Prophet ﷺ entered upon Aisha, pleased, with the lines of his face beaming. She asked him, and he said to her: “Have you not seen that Mujazziz al-Mudliji came upon Usamah ibn Zayd and Zayd ibn Harithah, who had covered themselves with a cloak while their feet were exposed, and said: ‘These feet are of one another’?” (1)

The Prophet ﷺ was delighted by the testimony of this physiognomist, who did not know them or their circumstances. This was because Quraysh used to cast aspersions on the lineage of Usamah ibn Zayd ibn Harithah, saying, since Usamah was dark-skinned and Zayd was light-skinned, “This is not this man’s son.” Undoubtedly, this concerned the Messenger ﷺ, for Zayd was his freed slave and Usamah was the son of his freed slave; both were his freed slaves, and the Messenger ﷺ loved them both. It is well known that disparaging them was no insignificant matter to the Prophet ﷺ. Thus, the testimony of this physiognomist increased his joy.

In any case, we present him to the physiognomists. How is he presented to them? This is referred to the customary methods: either the face is shown while the bodies are concealed—that is, a barrier is placed and the face is shown—or