English Translation

Abd al-Razzaq told us, saying: Ma'mar told us, from Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Aqil ibn Abi Talib, from Khalid ibn Zayd al-Juhani, from his father Zayd ibn Khalid, that he asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — or that a man asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — about a lost sheep of a shepherd's flock. He said: "It is yours, or the wolf's." He said: "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about a lost camel of a camel-herder?" He said: "What business is it of yours? It has its water-skin (i.e., its store of water in its body) and its footwear (its hooves), and it can eat from the tree-tops." He said: "O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about (lost) silver coins, if I find them?" He said: "Know its container and its tie-string and its number, then announce it publicly for a year; if its owner comes, give it to him, and otherwise it is yours" — or "make use of it" — or something similar.