A man came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asked him about lost property.He said, "Take note of its container and its tying cord, then announce it for a year. If its owner comes, give it to him, otherwise it is yours to use as you wish."The man asked, "What about a stray sheep, Messenger of Allah?"He replied, "It is for you, or for your brother, or for the wolf."The man asked, "What about a stray camel?"He replied, "What business do you have with it? It has its water supply and its hooves. It can reach water and feed on trees until its owner finds it."
جاء رجل إلى رسول الله ﷺ، فسأله عن اللقطة، فقال: اعرف عفاصها ووكاءها، ثم عرفها سنة، فإن جاء صاحبها، وإلا فشأنك بها. قال: فضالة الغنم يا رسول الله؟ قال: هي لك، أو لأخيك، أو للذئب. قال: فضالة الإبل؟ قال: مالك ولها؟ معها سقاؤها وحذاؤها، ترد الماء، وتأكل الشجر حتى يلقاها ربها.
Malik narrated it in the Chapter on Judgments (48), from Rabia bin Abu Abdul-Rahman, from Yazid the freed slave of Munbaith, from Zayd bin Khalid Juhani, and he mentioned it. Bukhari narrated it in the Chapter on Sharecropping (2372), and Muslim in the Chapter on Lost Property (1722), both by way of Malik with the same wording.Muslim also narrated it through another route, from Sufyan Thawri, Malik bin Anas, Amr bin Harith, and others, that Rabia bin Abu Abdul-Rahman related this hadith to them with the same chain as Malik's version, except that he added, He said, "A man came to the Messenger of Allah while I was with him, and asked him about lost property." He said, and Amr said in the hadith, "If no one comes seeking it, then spend it.""The container" refers to the vessel in which the money is kept, whether made of leather, cloth, or something else. For this reason, the leather covering placed over the mouth of a bottle is called by this same term. "The tie" is the string used to fasten the container. As for his statement, "it has its water skin and its shoes with it," by "water skin" he meant that when it comes to water, it drinks enough to satisfy its thirst, and it can go the longest of all animals without water because of how much water it can carry within itself. By "shoes" he meant its hooves, and that with them it is able to travel and cross vast lands and reach distant water sources.See Sharh al-Sunnah (8/210).