3886 - وَ كَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ فِي رَجُلٍ كَانَتْ لَهُ قِطَاعُ أَرَضِينَ فَحَضَرَهُ اَلْخُرُوجُ إِلَى مَكَّةَ وَ اَلْقَرْيَةُ عَلَى مَرَاحِلَ مِنْ مَنْزِلِهِ وَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ مِنَ اَلْمُقَامِ مَا يَأْتِي بِحُدُودِ أَرْضِهِ وَ عَرَّفَ حُدُودَ اَلْقَرْيَةِ اَلْأَرْبَعَةَ فَقَالَ لِلشُّهُودِ اِشْهَدُوا أَنِّي قَدْ بِعْتُ مِنْ فُلاَنٍ يَعْنِي اَلْمُشْتَرِيَ جَمِيعَ اَلْقَرْيَةِ اَلَّتِي حَدٌّ مِنْهَا كَذَا وَ اَلثَّانِي وَ اَلثَّالِثُ وَ اَلرَّابِعُ وَ إِنَّمَا لَهُ فِي هَذِهِ اَلْقَرْيَةِ قِطَاعُ أَرَضِينَ فَهَلْ يَصْلُحُ لِلْمُشْتَرِي ذَلِكَ وَ إِنَّمَا لَهُ بَعْضُ هَذِهِ اَلْقَرْيَةِ وَ قَدْ أَقَرَّ لَهُ بِكُلِّهَا فَوَقَّعَ عَلَيْهِ اَلسَّلاَمُ "لاَ يَجُوزُ بَيْعُ مَا لَيْسَ يَمْلِكُ وَ قَدْ وَجَبَ اَلشِّرَاءُ مِنَ اَلْبَائِعِ عَلَى مَا يَمْلِكُ ".
Hadith.3886 - He wrote to Imam 
regarding a man who owned several plots of land and was preparing to leave for Mecca. The village was several stages away from his residence, and he did not have enough time to specify the boundaries of his land. Instead, he identified the four boundaries of the entire village and said to the witnesses, "Bear witness that I have sold to so-and-so (the buyer) the entire village, with its specified boundaries."
However, in reality, he only owned some plots of land within that village. The question was whether this sale was valid for the buyer, given that the seller acknowledged ownership of the whole village.
Imam responded: "It is not permissible to sell what one does not own. However, the purchase is valid for the portion that the seller actually owns."
