remain silent where he could have continued speaking, and that the excluded portion be of the same genus and type. Thus the wording, “He owes me these ten slaves except one,” is valid and nine slaves remain due; while the statement, “He owes me one hundred dirhams except one dinar,” obliges him for the full hundred. Likewise, “He owes me this house except this room” is accepted even if the room makes up the greater part of the property, but not if he says, “except two-thirds of it¹,” or something similar. Should he say instead, “The house is his—two-thirds of it,” or “as a loan,” or “as a gift,” the second clause prevails.

Section

If someone sells, donates, or emancipates a slave and then admits that the slave actually belongs to another person, his admission is rejected and he must pay the slave’s value to the one he named.

If he says, “I seized this slave from Zayd—no, rather from ʿAmr,” or, “The slave belongs to ʿAmr and I seized him from Zayd,” the slave is returned to Zayd and he must pay ʿAmr the slave’s value. But if he says², “I seized him from Zayd and he belongs to ʿAmr,” the slave is returned to Zayd and he owes ʿAmr nothing.

When a man dies³ leaving two sons and two hundred dinars, and someone claims one hundred dinars against the deceased, with one son affirming the claim and the other denying it, the son who affirms is liable for half the amount—unless he is an upright witness who testifies, in which case the claimant swears along with him, receives the whole hundred, and whatever remains of the estate is divided between the two brothers.