Ibn Abi Sarh and the Writing Down of the Qur’an
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[1567/1] الكافي: أبو علي الأشعري، عن محمد بن عبد الجبار، عن صفوان بن يحيى، عن ابن مسكان، عن أبي بصير، عن أحدهما عليه السلام قال: سألته عن قول الله عزو جل وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ قَالَ أُوحِيَ إِلَيَّ وَلَمْ يُوحَ إِلَيْهِ قال: نزلت في ابن أبي سرح الذي كان عثمان استعمله على مصر وهو من كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله يوم فتح مكة هدر دمه وكان يكتب لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله فإذا أنزل الله عزوجل إِنَّ اللّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ كتب إِنَّ اللّهَ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ فيقول له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله: دعها فإن الله عليم حكيم وكان ابن أبي سرح يقول للمنافقين: إني لاقول من نفسي مثل ما يجئ به فما يغير علي فأنزل الله تبارك وتعالى فيه الذي أنزل
[1567/1] al-Kafi: Abu Ali al-Ash’ari from Muhammad b. Abd al-Jabbar from Safwan b. Yahya from Ibn Muskan from Abi Basir from one of them عليه السلام. He (Abi Basir) said: I asked him (i.e. the Imam) about the words of Allah Mighty and Majestic: “Who is a greater wrong-doer than him who fabricates a lie against Allah, or says, ‘It has been revealed to me,’ while nothing has been revealed to him” (6:93). He (i.e. the Imam) said: It came down about Ibn Abi Sarh whom Uthman had made governor over Egypt while he was the one whose blood the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله had made permissible (to be shed) on the day of the conquest of Mecca. He used to write (the revelation) for the Messenger of Allahصلى الله عليه وآله so if Allah Mighty and Majestic sends down “Verily Allah is Mighty, Wise” he (i.e. Ibn Abi Sarh) writes (instead) “Verily Allah is Knowledgeable, Wise” so the Messenger of Allahصلى الله عليه وآله would say to him ‘let it be - for Allah is indeed Knowledgeable, Wise’. Ibn Abi Sarh used to say to the hypocrites: ‘I say from my own self (i.e. of my own accord) the like of what he (i.e. the prophet) comes with but he does not require me to change it’. Then Allah Blessed and Elevated sent down about him what he sent down