and his purchases, receipts and payments, marriages, and every other form of exchange likewise stand—unless he gives someone preferential treatment. Should he do so, that preference is regarded as a pure gift or donation, and such donations are invalid for anyone whose debts have already swallowed up his assets, whether that was before or after the formal declaration of bankruptcy.

An admission he makes in favor of a person known to have dealt with him, and toward whom there is no suspicion of collusion, remains valid and binding—for and against him—until the judge pronounces him bankrupt and bars him from disposing of his estate.

When a man’s liabilities equal his estate, the creditors may undo any manumission, gift, or charity he has performed. Yet if he has made one of his female slaves pregnant, they have no right to sell her.

Once the judge freezes the insolvent’s property and issues a ruling of bankruptcy, the bankrupt no longer has legal authority over his wealth until the case is concluded. If, during that period, he acknowledges a debt, the acknowledgment attaches to his personal liability; and if he later acquires property other than what remains in his hands, payment of the admitted amount is taken from that new property.

The position of a debtor whose creditors have not sought his bankruptcy—so long as his debts equal his wealth—is the same as that of one whose assets the judge has seized on account of insolvency with respect to any manumissions, gifts, or charities they may have carried out. They differ, however, in reciprocal transactions for value. If, in either situation, he gives a gift, bestows charity, or frees a slave with the approval of his creditors, it is permissible.

There is a difference of opinion transmitted from Mālik regarding pledging property: one report allows him to pawn assets after he is declared bankrupt, while another does not. Yet neither Mālik nor his disciples differ on this point: a person whose debts encompass his estate may, even after the declaration of bankruptcy, pay some creditors ahead of others.