Sahih al-Bukhari 4986

Translation

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq sent for me when the people of Yamama had been killed (i.e., a number of the Prophet's Companions who fought against Musailima). (I went to him) and found ʿUmar bin Al- Khattab sitting with him. Abu Bakr then said (to me), "ʿUmar has come to me and said: "Casualties were heavy among the Qurra' of the Qur'an (i.e. those who knew the Qur'an by heart) on the day of the Battle of Yamama, and I am afraid that more heavy casualties may take place among the Qurra' on other battlefields, whereby a large part of the Qur'an may be lost. Therefore I suggest, you (Abu Bakr) order that the Qur'an be collected." I said to ʿUmar, "How can you do something which Allah's Apostle did not do?" ʿUmar said, "By Allah, that is a good project." ʿUmar kept on urging me to accept his proposal till Allah opened my chest for it and I began to realize the good in the idea which ʿUmar had realized." Then Abu Bakr said (to me). 'You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Messenger of Allah ﷺ. So you should search for (the fragmentary scripts of) the Qur'an and collect it in one book." By Allah If they had ordered me to shift one of the mountains, it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur'an. Then I said to Abu Bakr, "How will you do something which Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not do?" Abu Bakr replied, "By Allah, it is a good project." Abu Bakr kept on urging me to accept his idea until Allah opened my chest for what He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and ʿUmar. So I started looking for the Qur'an and collecting it from (what was written on) palme stalks, thin white stones and also from the men who knew it by heart, till I found the last Verse of Surat at-Tauba (Repentance) with Abi Khuzaima Al-Ansari, and I did not find it with anybody other than him. The Verse is: 'Verily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves. It grieves him that you should receive any injury or difficulty..(till the end of Surat-Baraa' (at-Tauba) (9.128-129). Then the complete manuscripts (copy) of the Qur'an remained with Abu Bakr till he died, then with ʿUmar till the end of his life, and then with Hafsa, the daughter of ʿUmar.

Notes

• قَالَ زَيْدٌ قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ إِنَّكَ رَجُلٌ شَابٌّ عَاقِلٌ لاَ نَتَّهِمُكَ، وَقَدْ كُنْتَ تَكْتُبُ الْوَحْىَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَتَتَبَّعِ الْقُرْآنَ فَاجْمَعْهُ فَوَاللَّهِ لَوْ كَلَّفُونِي نَقْلَ جَبَلٍ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ مَا كَانَ أَثْقَلَ عَلَىَّ مِمَّا أَمَرَنِي مِنْ جَمْعِ الْقُرْآنِ قُلْتُ كَيْفَ تَفْعَلُونَ شَيْئًا لَمْ يَفْعَلْهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ هُوَ وَاللَّهِ خَيْرٌ فَلَمْ يَزَلْ أَبُو بَكْرٍ يُرَاجِعُنِي حَتَّى شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صَدْرِي لِلَّذِي شَرَحَ لَهُ صَدْرَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ فَتَتَبَّعْتُ الْقُرْآنَ أَجْمَعُهُ مِنَ الْعُسُبِ وَاللِّخَافِ وَصُدُورِ الرِّجَالِ حَتَّى وَجَدْتُ آخِرَ سُورَةِ التَّوْبَةِ مَعَ أَبِي خُزَيْمَةَ الأَنْصَارِيِّ لَمْ أَجِدْهَا مَعَ أَحَدٍ غَيْرَهُ [quran sura="9" aya_start="128" aya_end="128"]{لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ}[/quran] حَتَّى خَاتِمَةِ بَرَاءَةَ، فَكَانَتِ الصُّحُفُ عِنْدَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ حَتَّى تَوَفَّاهُ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ عِنْدَ عُمَرَ حَيَاتَهُ ثُمَّ عِنْدَ حَفْصَةَ بِنْتِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنه

Grades by grader

Same hadith, other wordings

• Misykatul Mashabih 2220وَعَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ ثَابِتٍ قَالَ: أَرْسَلَ إِلَيَّ أَبُو بَكْرٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ مَقْتَلَ أَهْلِ الْيَمَامَةِ. فَإِذَا عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ عِنْدَهُ. قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ إِنَّ عُمَرَ أَتَانِي فَقَالَ إِنَّ الْقَتْلَ قَدِ اسْتَحَرَّ ي
• Shahih al-Bukhari 7425أَرْسَلَ إِلَىَّ أَبُو بَكْرٍ فَتَتَبَّعْتُ الْقُرْآنَ حَتَّى وَجَدْتُ آخِرَ سُورَةِ التَّوْبَةِ مَعَ أَبِي خُزَيْمَةَ الأَنْصَارِيِّ لَمْ أَجِدْهَا مَعَ أَحَدٍ غَيْرِهِ {لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ} حَتَّى خَاتِمَةِ بَرَاءَة

Other narrations of this report

Musnad Ahmad 21644al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (al-Tabarani) 4908Musnad Abi Ya'la 63Musnad Abi Ya'la 70

Narrators

1. 1
   Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq

   Successor (Caliph) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ (khalīfat rasūl Allāh ﷺ)d. 13 AH
   أَبُو بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيقُخليفة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
   في حكم العنعنة
2. 2
   Zayd b. Thābit al-Anṣārī

   Famous Companion, scribe of the revelationd. 45 AH, also said: 40 AH, also said: 42 AH, also said: 43 AH, also said: 48 AH, also said: 51 AH, also said: 52 AH, also said: 54 AH, also said: 55 AH, also said: 56 AH
   زَيْدَ بْنَ ثَابِتٍصحابي مشهور ، كاتب الوحي
   أن
3. 3
   ʿUbayd b. al-Sabbāq al-ʿAbdarī

   trustworthy (thiqah)d. between 81 AH and 90 AH
   عُبَيْدِ بْنِ السَّبَّاقِثقة
   عن
4. 4
   al-Zuhrī

   The jurist and memorizer (ḥāfiẓ), whose eminence, precision and reliability are agreed upond. Ḍamrah b. Rabīʿah and others said: 123 AH. The nephew of al-Zuhrī and others said: 124 AH. Ibn Yūnus and others said: 125 AH
   ابْنُ شِهَابٍالفقيه الحافظ ، متفق على جلالته وإتقانه وثبته
   حدثنا
5. 5
   Ibrāhīm b. Saʿd Abū Isḥāq al-Zuhrī

   Trustworthy (thiqah) and an authority (ḥujjah); he was spoken about without any valid ground for criticism.d. 182 AH, or 183 AH, or 184 AH, or 185 AH
   إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ سَعْدٍثقة حجة ، تُكُلِّم فيه بلا قادح
   عن
6. 6
   Mūsā b. Ismāʿīl

   trustworthy, precise (thiqah thabt)d. 223 AH, or 226 AH
   مُوسَى بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَثقة ثبت
   حدثنا
7. 7
   al-Bukhārī

   a mountain of memorization and the leader of the world in the comprehension of hadith (jabal al-ḥifẓ wa-imām al-dunyā fī fiqh al-ḥadīth)d. 256 AH
   الْبُخَارِيُّجبل الحفظ وإمام الدنيا في فقه الحديث

Who each narrator was and how reliable, from hdith.com

Latin names and English verdicts with a dotted underline are machine translations, not reviewed.

Also in

Mishkat al-Masabih 2220