creation of the world. The literary excellence of the book is to a very great degree lost in translation, but there can be no doubt that it contains many strikingly beautiful and sublime passages. We must, however, give an account of its composition. Muhammad's most intimate followers were, from very early in his life as a "Prophet," in the habit of writing down each verse as he recited it, and this they did on whatever kind of writing-tablet they happened to have at hand. The Surahs thus written down were committed to memory by hundreds of zealous believers, and recited when occasion served. All the Surahs were not, however, collected into one volume until about a year after Muhammad's death, when, according to the celebrated Al Bukhari, this was done at the command of the Khalif Abu Bakr by Zaid ibn Thabit one of the Ansars or Helpers of Muhammad, a native of Medinah who had during the "Prophet's" lifetime acted as his amanuensis. The story runs¹ that 'Umr bin al Khattab, noticing how many of those who could recite the different chapters of the Qur'an from memory had perished at the battle of Al Yamamah (A.H. 12), and fearing that, if such slaughter went on in other battles also, the Qur'an would perish uncompiled, urged the Khalif to give orders for the book to be "collected" and preserved. Zaid himself thus relates the circumstances under which he undertook the task:

"Abu Bakr said to me, 'Thou art a learned young man; we do not distrust thee,

First Redaction under Abu Bakr.

and thou wast wont to write down for the Apostle of GOD the Divine Revelation. Seek out the Qur'an therefore and collect it.' If they had imposed upon me the duty of removing a mountain, it would not have weighed more heavily upon me than what he commanded me to do in the way of collecting the Qur'an. I said, 'How will ye do a thing that the Apostle of GOD did not do?' 'Umr replied with an oath that it was best that it should be done. And Abu Bakr did not desist from urging me to collect it, until GOD enlightened my breast to perceive what 'Umr and Abu Bakr's own breast had made clear to the latter. Accordingly I searched out the whole of the Qur'an from leafless palm-branches and from white stones and from the breasts of men, until I found the conclusion of Suratu 'tTaubah (Surah IX. v. 129) with Abu Khuzaimah the Ansari. I found it not with any one else." When Zaid ibn Thabit had compiled the whole Qur'an in this manner and written down the Surahs separately, each apparently on a separate sheet, he handed over the whole collection to Abu Bakr, who kept them by him until his death. They were then entrusted to the charge of

Second redaction under Uthman.

'Umr, who guarded them as long as he lived. After his death they passed into the hands of Hafsah his daughter. 

However satisfactory the work thus accomplished was, it did not prevent errors or at least variations from gradually creeping into the Qur'an as recited