It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he asked Sayyiduna Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him): With what in mind did you people take Surah al-Anfal, which is one of the Mathani (the surahs with fewer than a hundred verses), and Surah Bara'ah, which is one of the Mi'in (the surahs with a hundred or more verses), and join the two together without even writing the line 'Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim' between them, and moreover place them among the seven long surahs? Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: A period would pass over the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in which surahs with many verses would be revealed to him. Whenever something was revealed, he would call a scribe of the revelation and say: "Place these verses in the surah in which such-and-such things are mentioned." Likewise, when a verse was revealed, he would say: "Place it in the surah in which such-and-such is mentioned." Now Surah al-Anfal was among the early surahs revealed in Madinah, while Surah Bara'ah (al-Tawbah) was, in terms of revelation, from the last part of the Qur'an, but the subject matter of the two closely resembled each other. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away and had not made clear to us that it was part of it, so we (on account of the similarity of subject matter) presumed that it was part of it. For this reason I placed the two together and did not write the line 'Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim' between them. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.