The Qur’an An Abiding Wonder
The Preservation of the Qur’an
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termed
al-Irza,
‘mutual presentation,’ in the books
of hadith.
It has also been established that in the last year of
the Prophet’s life, when the revelations had been
completed, Gabriel came to the Prophet and
recited the entire Qur’an in the existing order
twice, and similarly the Prophet also recited to
Gabriel the entire Qur’an twice. This final
presentation is called
al-Arz al-Akhirah
in the
books of hadith.
(Fathul Bari,
p. 659-663)
When by the help of Gabriel the Qur’an was fully
and systematically arranged, the Prophet recited it
to his companions on different occasions in the
order with which we are familiar today. The Qur’an
was thus preserved in its pristine form in the
memories of tens of thousands of the companions
during the Prophet’s lifetime.
The preservation of the Qur’an passed through
three stages: transcription, compilation and
collection. In the first stage, as soon as a chapter or a
verse was revealed, it was committed to writing.
The following items are mentioned in books as
examples of the writing materials used:
