Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī

Zayd ibn Thābit al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) one of the scribes of the Qur'an, reported: Abu Bakr as-Siddīq sent for me when the people (of the battle) of Yamāmah were killed. I found ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb sitting with him. Abu Bakr said: "‘Umar came to me and said: 'The death toll was heavy on the day of (the battle of) Yamāmah and I feared that many of the memorizers of the Qur'an would be killed on other battlefields, and a large part of the Qur'an might be lost unless you collect it.

Can I suggest that you collect it?' I said to ‘Umar: 'How could I do something that the Messenger of Allah had not done?' ‘Umar said: 'By Allah, this is good.' ‘Umar kept on debating with me until Allah opened my heart to it and I accepted ‘Umar’s point of view." Then Abu Bakr said: "While ‘Umar was sitting with him silently: 'You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicions about you. You used to write the revelation for the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).

So track down the Qur'an and collect it.' By Allah, had he ordered me to move one of the mountains, it would not have been harder on me than what he ordered me to do in collecting the Qur'an." I said to Abu Bakr: "How could you do something that the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had not done?" Abu Bakr replied: "By Allah, this is good." Abu Bakr kept on talking to me about it until Allah opened my heart to what He had opened the hearts of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar to.

So I tracked down the Qur'an, collecting it (written) on parchment, shoulder blades, and palm stalks, and from the hearts of men, until I found these last two verses of Sūrat At-Tawbah from Khuzaymah al-Ansāri; I did not find them with anyone else: {There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer, [he is] concerned over you...} until the end of the two verses [Sūrat At-Tawbah: 128-129].

The sheets on which the Qur'an was collected remained with Abu Bakr until he died, then with ‘Umar until he died, and then with Hafsah, the daughter of ‘Umar.