down the inspired revelations of the Prophet of the Lord,
wherefore now search out the Quran and bring it all together." Zeid being
at length pressed to undertake the task proceeded to gather the Quran
together from "date leaves, and tablets of white stone, and from the hearts
of men." In course of time it was all compiled in the order in which the
book is now arranged. This was the authorized text for some twenty-three
years after the death of Muhammad. Owing, however, either to different
modes of recitation, or to differences of expression in the sources from
which Zeid's first recension was made, a variety of different readings
crept into the copies in use. The Faithful became alarmed and the Khalif
Osman was persuaded to put a stop to such a danger. He appointed Zeid with
three of the leading men of the Quraish as assistants to go over the whole
work again. A careful recension was made of the whole book which was then
assimilated to the Meccan dialect, the purest in Arabia. After this all
other copies of the Quran were burnt by order of the Khalif, and new
transcripts were made of the revised edition which was now the only
authorised copy. As it is a fundamental tenet of Islam that the Quran is
incorruptible and absolutely free {9} from error, no little difficulty has
been felt in explaining the need of Osman's new and revised edition and of
the circumstances under which it took place; but as usual a Tradition has
been handed down which makes it lawful to read the Quran in seven dialects.
The book in its present form may be accepted as a genuine reproduction of
Abu Bakr's edition with authoritative corrections. We may rest assured that
we have in the Quran now in use the record of what Muhammad said. It thus
becomes a fundamental basis of Islam. It was a common practice of the early
Muslims when speaking of the Prophet to say:--"His character is the Quran."
When people curious to know details of the life of their beloved master
asked 'Ayesha, one of his widows, about him, she used to reply:--"Thou hast
the Quran, art thou not an Arab and readest the Arab tongue? Why dost thou
ask me, for the Prophet's disposition is no other than the Quran?"

Whether Muhammad would have arranged the Quran as we now have it is a
subject on which it is impossible to form an opinion. There are Traditions
which seem to show that he had some doubts as to its completeness. I give
the following account on the authority of M. Caussin de Perciv