and has led it further away from its owner.
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He is called “astray” because he has committed a sin by encroaching on someone else’s property through injustice and aggression; to be astray is to act without guidance.
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Anyone who violates another person’s rights is astray, for another’s wealth is lawful only with his willing consent. The Prophet ﷺ declared during the Farewell Pilgrimage: “Your lives, your honor, and your wealth are inviolable—just as sacred as this day of yours, in this month of yours, in this city of yours.”
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As for the phrase, “so long as he makes it known,” the requirement to announce here is absolute; it is not confined to one year as in the previous ḥadīth. The unrestricted wording here cannot be limited by the earlier report because the rulings differ: in the first narration it is permissible to pick up the lost item, whereas in the second it is forbidden to do so. Therefore, anyone who nevertheless takes a stray animal must keep announcing it continually until its owner is found, for the stray never becomes his property after a year of announcement. Seeking the owner at all times is obligatory, and the finder’s ongoing announcement serves as atonement for his wrongful seizure.