What is the ruling on a partnership in which goods are sent to a person for sale, with an agreement to return the capital and divide the profit equally, knowing that the partner does not contribute to the capital and is deprived of the free goods that the merchant obtains from the original supplier, with the exception of a small portion given to him personally?

There is no objection to the aforementioned transaction between you and your friend who sells you the goods in exchange for half the profit. This is an agency for a fee and a percentage of the profit, which is permissible according to some scholars like Ibn Sirin, who stated in Al-Mughni: "If he says: 'Sell it for such and such, and whatever profit there is, it is yours or it is between me and you,' then there is no harm in it." As for the free goods you receive, there is no harm if you grant some of them to your selling agent, but you are not obligated to do so.