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fails to complete its development1, he does not own the land, yet he enjoys priority over all others, and the same priority passes to his heirs after him. If the ruler subsequently assigns it to him, it becomes his outright.
Whoever is first to seize an ownerless commodity is entitled to it—whether game, ambergris, pearls, coral, fire-wood, fruit, or goods discarded because they are no longer desired—and ownership in such cases is confined2 to the quantity actually taken.
(1) In horticulture, tatim (grafting) is the joining of another plant or part of a plant so that they fuse and live as though they were one. The section that remains rooted in the ground is called the matʿum (rootstock), while the part inserted into it is the taʿm (scion). See Agricultural Terms Dictionary, p. 316.
(2) The word “fihi” (therein) is missing in manuscript A.
يركبه١ لم يملكه لكنه أحق به من غيره ووارثه بعده فإن أعطاه أحد كان له.
ومن سبق إلى مباح فهو له كصيد وعنبر ولؤلؤ ومرجان وحطب وثمر ومنبوذ رغبة عنه والملك مقصور فيه٢ على القدر المأخوذ.
١ التركيب هو: التطعيم ومعناه: وصل نبات آخر أو جزء نبات آخر ليلتحما ويعيشا كأنهما نبات واحد والجزء الذي له جذور في الأرض يسمى: المطعم والجزء الثاني الذي ينشب في الأول: يسمى الطعم. معجم الألفاظ الزراعية "ص: ٣١٦".
٢ "فيه" لا توجد في "أ".