It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jundub (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I came to Madinah to acquire knowledge. When I entered the mosque of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I saw people sitting in circles engaged in learned conversation. I went forward and reached a circle in which there was a man of pale complexion wearing two sheets, who looked like a traveller. I heard him saying three times: "By the Lord of the Ka'bah! The people of the pact (those in authority) have perished, and I feel no grief for them." I sat down with him, and when he finished his talk and stood up, I asked about him. The people said: This is the leader of the people, Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b. I followed him to his house, and I saw that his house, his clothing and his outward state were all extremely simple and worn. I greeted him with salam and he returned it. Then he asked me: Where are you from? I said: I am from the people of Iraq. At this he became angry and said: (The people of Iraq) are the ones who ask the most questions. I turned towards the qiblah, knelt on my knees, raised my hands and said: O Allah! We bring our complaint about them (the scholars) to You. We spend our wealth in the pursuit of knowledge, we wear out our bodies and bear the hardships of travel, but when we meet them they treat us with sullen faces. On hearing this, Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b began to weep and began trying to placate me, saying: Woe to you! I did not mean that. Then he said: I promise you that if I remain alive until Friday, I will certainly relate what I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and in it I will not care for the blame of any blamer. Then I left and began waiting for Friday. When Thursday came, I saw that the streets of Madinah were filled with people. I asked: What has happened? The people said: We think you are a stranger. I said: Yes. They said: The leader of the people, Ubayy bin Ka'b, has passed away. Then when I met Sayyiduna Abu Musa al-Ash'ari in Iraq and related this incident to him, he said: If only he had lived until that word of his had reached us. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him) that a man came to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was at Arafah and said: O Commander of the Believers! I have come from Kufah, and I left there a man who dictates copies of the Qur'an from memory. On hearing this, Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) became intensely angry and swelled (with anger) so much that he nearly filled the space between the two wooden bows of the saddle. Then he said: Woe to you! Who is he? He said: Abdullah bin Mas'ud. Then his anger kept subsiding little by little until he returned to his former state, and he said: Woe to you! By Allah! As far as I know, there is now no one among the Muslims more entitled to this task than he is. I will tell you the reason for this: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would often stay up late into the night at the house of Abu Bakr consulting about the affairs of the Muslims. One night I too was with him. When we came out, a man was praying in the mosque. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood listening to his recitation. When we had difficulty recognising him, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever would like to recite the Qur'an fresh (and tender) just as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd (Abdullah bin Mas'ud)." Then the man began to supplicate, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ask! You will be given." Sayyiduna Umar says: I thought that in the morning I would go and give him this good news, but when I went I found that Abu Bakr had reached there before me and had already given him the good news. And by Allah! Never did I try to outstrip Abu Bakr in any good deed but that he was always ahead of me.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever would like to recite the Qur'an fresh just as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Umm Abd (Abdullah bin Mas'ud)." This narration of Alqamah from Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. My supposition is that, in their view, Alqamah bin Qays's hearing from Sayyiduna Umar is not established; and Allah knows best. And it has a detailed supporting narration (shahid) narrated from Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) as well.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was reciting (the Qur'an) letter by letter, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whomever it pleases to recite the Qur'an just as it was revealed, let him recite it according to the recitation of Ibn Mas'ud."

It is narrated from Abu Maysarah Amr bin Shurahbil (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: A man came to me while I was praying and said: May your mother lose you! Do I not see you praying, when it has been ordered concerning the Book of Allah that it be torn to pieces? He says: So I shortened my prayer, and I did not stop anywhere (after the prayer). I entered the house and went straight up, and there I saw Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, Hudhayfah and Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with them) arguing with one another. Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) was saying to Ibn Mas'ud: Hand this mushaf of yours over to them. Ibn Mas'ud said: By Allah! I will never hand it over. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught me more than seventy surahs, and then I should hand it over to them? By Allah! I will not hand it over to them. This hadith has an authentic chain (sahih al-isnad), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I recited seventy surahs directly from the blessed mouth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), while (in those days) Zayd bin Thabit was a boy with two locks of hair (braids) who used to play with the children. This hadith has an authentic chain (sahih al-isnad), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught me seventy surahs, which I had mastered even before Zayd bin Thabit accepted Islam.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We, a few of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), were sitting together, and we said to one another: If only we knew which deeds are most beloved to Allah Almighty, we would do them. At this Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed these verses: "Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth glorifies Allah, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. O you who believe, why do you say what you do not do? Most hateful it is in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do. Indeed, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in ranks as though they were a structure firmly joined" [Surah al-Saff: 1-4] , to the end of the surah, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this whole surah to us. Muhammad bin Kathir added in his narration that Imam al-Awza'i said to us: Yahya bin Abi Kathir recited this surah to us in the same way. Muhammad bin Kathir said: Imam al-Awza'i recited it to us to the end of the surah in the same way. Ibrahim said: Muhammad bin Kathir recited it to us to the end of the surah in the same way. Abu Amr bin al-Sammak said: Ibrahim bin al-Haytham recited it to us to the end of the surah in the same way. Imam al-Hakim says: Abu Amr bin al-Sammak recited it to us from beginning to end in the same way, and I (al-Hakim) too have recited this surah to you from beginning to end in the same way. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We were gathered around the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) engaged in compiling the Noble Qur'an (arranging its scattered portions), when he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Glad tidings (Tuba) for al-Sham." It was said: O Messenger of Allah! Why is that? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, the angels of the Most Merciful are spreading their wings over them (the people of al-Sham)." Jarir bin Hazim narrated it from Yahya bin Ayyub.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) compiling (arranging) the Noble Qur'an from pieces of leather, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Glad tidings (Tuba) for al-Sham." We said: Why is that? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Because the angels of the Most Merciful are spreading their wings over them (the people of al-Sham)." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. And in it there is a clear statement that the compilation of the Qur'an was not completed at one time; rather, part of it was compiled in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), then it was compiled in the time of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), and the third compilation, which is the present arrangement of the surahs, took place during the caliphate of the Commander of the Believers, Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them all).