Second: Whatever one fears1 may spoil obliges the finder to do whichever course is most beneficial: sell it; consume it and later repay its value; or dry it if it is something that can be dried. If the three options are of equal benefit, he is free to choose among them.

Third: The rest of the property.2 In every case the finder must announce it immediately during the daytime—once each day for a week, and thereafter, in the customary manner, for the span of a full year.

The required announcement is to call out3 in the marketplaces and at the doors of the mosques: “Who has lost property or money?”

The crier’s wage is borne by the finder. If he has announced it for a year and it is not4 claimed, the property passes into his ownership automatically; he may then dispose of it as he wishes, provided that he remains liable for it.

Section

It is unlawful for him to make use of it until he can describe its container, its seal—the tie5 with which the container is fastened—and its wrapping (ʿifāṣ), that is, the manner in which it is bound, as well as its amount, its kind, and its distinctive features.

Whenever a claimant can describe it accurately, even after many years, the finder must hand it over to him together with any inseparable increase; any separable increase that occurs after the year of announcement, however, belongs to the finder.

If the property perishes or diminishes during that year and the finder has not been negligent, he bears no liability.