Section
It is permissible for a person to divide his wealth among his heirs while he is still alive. Should another child later be born, he is obliged to allocate to that newcomer the share that is due to him, and he must treat all the heirs equally in proportion to the shares they would inherit.

If he marries off one of them or singles him out1 with a special gift without the consent of the others, this is unlawful; he must give the rest until parity is restored. If he dies before equalizing the distribution and the preferential grant was not made during a life-threatening illness, the recipient’s title is affirmed. But if the grant took place while he was in such an illness, the recipient is not entitled to anything beyond what the others receive unless they approve—except where the gift was a waqf, in which case it is valid up to one-third, as with a non-heir.

Section
An illness that is not considered life-threatening—such as a headache or a toothache2—does not restrict the patient’s freedom to dispose of his entire estate; his transactions stand exactly like those of a healthy person, even if the condition later worsens and he dies from it.

A life-threatening illness includes ailments like inflammation of the brain (barsam), pleurisy, constant nosebleed, incessant vomiting, as well as the situation of a combatant positioned between the two battle lines at the time of fighting, one at sea during a storm, someone whose town has been struck by plague, a person brought forward for execution or imprisoned for that purpose, or someone who has sustained a mortal wound.3 Anyone afflicted by any of these conditions who then donates and subsequently dies has his donation to non-heirs validated only up to one-third of his estate. If he survives, he is treated as a healthy person.