both being grazing without a shepherd. “And We were witnesses to their judgment”—that is, it took place within Our knowledge and before Our sight; its details were not hidden from Us. Al-Farra’ said: Although two are mentioned, the plural is used in “their judgment,” referring to David and Solomon, because two may be expressed by the plural. This is like His saying: “But if he has siblings, then his mother receives a sixth” (Women 4:11), while referring to two brothers.

Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, and al-Zuhri said: This was because two men came before David: one was the owner of a field, and the other the owner of sheep. The owner of the crop said, “This man’s sheep escaped at night and entered my field, destroying it, so that nothing of it remained.” David therefore awarded him the sheep themselves in compensation for the crop. The two men departed and passed by Solomon, who asked, “How did he judge between you?” They told him, and Solomon said, “Had I been entrusted with their case, I would have judged differently.”

It is also related that he said, “A different judgment would be more equitable for both parties.” When David was informed of this, he summoned him and asked, “How would you judge?” It is also reported that he said, “By the right of prophethood and fatherhood, you must tell me what would be more equitable for both parties.” Solomon said, “Give the sheep to the owner of the field, so that he may benefit from their milk, offspring, wool, and other benefits. The owner of the sheep should sow for the owner of the field a crop equivalent to his former crop. Then, once the field has returned to the condition it was in on the day it was consumed, it should be handed back to its owner, and the owner of the sheep should take back his sheep.” David said, “The judgment is as you have judged,” and he ruled accordingly. (1)

It is said that Solomon was eleven years old when he gave this judgment. As for the ruling of Islam [in this matter] (2), if unattended livestock damage another person’s property during the daytime, their owner is not liable. But if they cause damage at night, their owner is liable, because it is customary for owners of crops to guard them by day, while livestock graze by day and are returned to their pens at night.

Abu al-Hasan al-Sarakhsi informed us; Zahir ibn Ahmad informed us; Abu Ishaq al-Hashimi informed us; Abu Mus‘ab informed us, from Malik, from Abu Shihab, from Haram ibn Sa‘d ibn Muhayyisah, that a she-camel belonging to al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib entered a garden and damaged it. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ruled that the owners of gardens must guard them during the daytime, and that the owners of livestock are liable for whatever their animals damage at night. The proponents of legal reasoning held that if the owner is not accompanying the animals, he bears no liability for what his livestock destroy, whether by night or by day. (3)