'History of the imâms and seyyids of 'Omân by Salîl-ibn-Razîk, from A.D. 661-1856; translated from the original Arabic, and edited with notes, appendices, and an introduction, continuing the history down to 1870, by George Percy Badger, F.R.G.S., late chaplain in the Presidency of Bombay.' [‎252] (413/612)

252
the imams op 'oman.
of God, and that what ^Othman abstracted they possess, but
may not show it, except to the principal followers of their
creed, maintaining that it is unlawful for them to commu
nicate it to any who differ from them. Let the impartial
inquirer weigh such language as this, for investigation clears
up what is doubtful and exposes error. Was it possible for
'Othman or any one else to abstract what was written in
the heart ? for the Almighty saith : ' these are evident signs
in the breasts of those who have received understanding/ 1
It is certain that the blessed Kuran was not brought down
by Gabriel from the Lord of both worlds to Muhammad the
Apostle written on paper, neither did the Apostle rehearse
it to the people from paper; what power ; then, could ab
stract what was in the heart, or what was not committed
to writing except from the heart ? But if the case is as
they maintain, why did not ^Aly, after ^Othman's death,
restore what 'Othman had abstracted, even if they can bring
themselves to believe—what would be most derogatory
under the circumstances—that he feared him during his life
time ? But all such assertions on their part are either lies,
or insinuations, or sophisms congenial to these libertinisms.^ 3
1 Kuran, Sdrat-el-' 1 Ankabtit, (xxix.) 48.
2 I am not aware that this pretension on the part of the Wahh&bis of
being possessed of certain portions of the original Kuran, not to be
found in the recognized version, has ever been noticed before. The
orthodox opinion regarding the mode in which the Book was colligated,
during the Khalifate of Abu-Bekr, Muhammad's successor, coincides
with the following account of the undertaking, compiled by M. Caussin
de Perceval from Abulf6da , s Annates Muslemici: —" Up to that time
there was no complete copy of the Kuran ; even fragments of the same,
written either on skins or palm-branches, were scarce. Some portions,
moreover, had not yet been reduced to writing, and existed only in the
memories of the As-hdb, [Companions of the Prophet]. The loss of so
many of the Kurrd, [Readers who knew the Kuran by rote,] who had
been killed in the battle of 'Akraba, [against Musailamah], had im
pressed the Khalifah with the necessity of collecting the Kuran together
into one book, in order that the deposit of the law which Muhammad had
consigned to his contemporaries might be transmitted in its entirety to