unless a guarantor assumes it on his behalf.
When, at the time of sale, an agent says, “I am selling this item on behalf of so-and-so,” or, “I am purchasing it for so-and-so,” the warranty rests with that person, not with the agent, and the price is likewise his responsibility—provided that so-and-so acknowledges the matter or proof is produced to that effect.
If the agent does not state that the transaction is for someone else, both the price and the warranty fall upon the agent.
Whenever the agent explicitly disclaims personal liability by declaring that he is buying or selling for another, he is treated like a public crier, a hired worker, an executor, or a governor: no legal claim attaches to any of these.
But if the agent offers no clarification and remains silent, the warranty and the liability for the price are his.
Once the buyer has taken possession of the commodity and removed it to his own domain—whether the goods are measured, weighed, or counted, and by whatever act of possession is customary for that commodity—and the same applies to anything sold in bulk, livestock included, any loss or defect that befalls the goods after possession is borne by the buyer, and the seller has no further liability, apart from what has already been set out in the chapter on calamities affecting fruits.
As for slaves sold without a disclaimer, Mālik and his companions hold that any affliction that befalls the slave—death, absconding, drowning, killing, wounding, or any other damage or diminution—remains the seller’s responsibility for a full three days and nights after the day the contract is concluded. If the sale is struck at dawn, around sunrise, that day is counted among the three; otherwise, the three-day period begins only after the day on which the contract is finalized.
Should the slave be wounded during the warranty period, compensation for the wound is owed by the seller, for the loss is his. The buyer then has the choice: he may either keep the slave, paying the full price despite the defect, or he may return him.
After that comes the one-year warranty for insanity.