Cafe o f a
per I on bequeathing
two thirds of
his property
to two perfons
xefpeftively;
«r a third to
one and a
fixth to the
other.
C HA P . II.
Concerning the Bequeft of a, Third of the Eftate,
I f a perfon bequeath a third of his property to one man, and a third
to another, and the heirs refufe their confent to the execution o f both
bequefts, one third is in that cafe divided equally between the two
legatees; for where the will exceeds a third o f the eftate, and the
heirs refufe their confent to the execution of the whole, it is then re-
ftria ed to one third, as has been already explained; and as, in the
prefent inftance, the right of both claimants is equally good, and
the third is capable of divifton, it is therefore divided equally between
them.
If a man bequeath a third of his property to one perfon and a
fixth to another, and the heirs refufe .to confirm the whole, in that
cafe one third of the property is to be divided between the legatees in
three equal lots, two to the legatee of the third, and one to the le-
<ratee of the ftx th ; becaufe the bequeft does not hold good for any
thin* beyond one third-; and as both the legatees lay their claims on
equally good ground, and it is impoffible todifcharge their demands
(namelyl a third and a fixth) with one third only, that is therefore
{hared between them in proportion to their refpeaive claims, in the
fame manner as is praftifed with creditors, in difcharging the debts of
a perfon who dies infolvent. Here, moreover, the right of one legatee
is to a fixth, and that of the other to a third; and as a third is twice
the amount of a fixth, the third is therefore divided between the claim-
I " ants
ants in three fhares, two (hares going to the one, and one (hare to the
other..
[ * A w i l l by way o f Mohabdt, on a deathbed, is the fame in Cafes of Me.
effedt as a bequeft of property, and is therefore executed to any amount hah“t
not exceeding a third of the teftator’s eftate. (Mohabdt literally figni-
fies a gift. In the language of the l a w it means a gift interwoven in
fome compact or deed, as i f a perfon (hould fell part of his property to
another at an inferior value.)
If a perlon, having two (laves, one eftimated at thirty dirms,
and the other at fixty, (hould on his deathbed will that the (lave
worth thirty dirms- be fold to Zeyd for ten, and that the other worth
fixty, be fold to Omar for twenty,— in that cafe Zeyd obtains a Mohabdt
of twenty dirms, and Omar a Mohabdt of forty dirms; and this is
what is denominated a will by Mohabdt. But if the teftator (hould not
be pofleffed of any other property than thefe two (laves, and the heirs
refufe to ratify the will, in that cafe the Mohabdt is executed only in
the proportion of a third. Now the whole of the property is ninety
dirms, that being the aggregate value of the two (laves: one third of
that, therefore, (being thirty dirms,') is divided into three (hares, two
of which are given in Mohabdt to Omar, and one to Z ey d ; that is, the
(lave worth fixty dirms is fold to Omar for forty, and the other, worth
thirty, to Zeyd, for twenty.
If a perfon, having two (laves, one valued at thirty dirms, and the
other at fixty, (hould on his deathbed emancipate both, fuch manu-
* T h e whole pafiage within the crochets feems to be an interpolation o f the M elm ees
employed in the compofition o f the Perfian verfion of the Hed a y a , as the tranflator has
confulted various Arabic copies, without finding it in any o f them. I t may poffibly have
been inferted in fome copies o f thd' work in the manner o f marginal illujlratiam , which in duced
the Moltrvets to g iv e it a place in the text.
Q^_q q 2 million
IIIBf
S i r , 1
l ! l l §