Page:William Muir, Thomas Hunter Weir - The Caliphate; Its Rise, Decline, and Fall (1915).djvu/181

 152 Moḥammad's dictation. Many of the "Sūras," or chapters, were already used privately, and for the public services, in a complete and settled form. In addition, Zeid now sought out from every possible quarter whatever had at any time emanated from the Prophet, in the way of revelation, from the earliest period of his ministry—"whether inscribed on date-leaves, shreds of leather, shoulder-blades, stony tablets, or the hearts of men." Having gathered exhaustively the diverse and often fugitive materials, he carefully and with reverent hand dovetailed them together, just as they were found, in continuous form. A certain regard to time and subject was no doubt observed in the pious task; but still evidently with a good deal of haphazard collocation; and to this may be ascribed much of the obscurity and incoherence that occasionally pervade the sacred text. The original manuscript thus completed was committed to Ḥafṣa, ʿOmar's daughter, one of the Prophet's widows, and continued to be the standard text until the time of ʿOthmān.