It was just before Fajr — the early dawn prayer — and I could not sleep. I sat up on my sleeping mat, listening to the soft whispers of men reciting the Qur’an outside. The words drifted through the open door like cool air. I was a young scribe then, still learning to copy the verses with care. You won’t find my name in any surah, but I was there — among the students and recorders of Revelation when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ walked among us in Medina.
That morning, I followed Zahran, one of the older companions, to the masjid. He was a well-known memorizer of the Qur’an — we called such people huffaz, those who held the entire Qur’an in their hearts. As we walked, I asked him a question burning in my mind.
“Will the Qur’an ever be forgotten after the Prophet ﷺ leaves us?”
Zahran stopped in the dusty street and faced me. Kind lines framed his eyes as he said, “Let me tell you what our Messenger ﷺ said. One day, he told us, ‘I am leaving you two things. If you hold tightly to them, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah — my teachings.’” (Hadith from Tirmidhi 2676)
I listened, mouth dry. “But how can we protect the Qur’an?”
“By doing what we do,” he smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We memorize it. We write it carefully on bone and bark. We live by it. Every ayah — every verse — will remain safe as long as we love it.”
Later that day, I joined a group on the edge of the masjid, where we sat on mats and copied verses onto parchment. My hands trembled when I wrote the words of Surah Al-Ikhlas — “Say: He is Allah, One.” A man next to me softly recited while another corrected him. A child no older than ten repeated the names of the surahs aloud, his face shining with joy.
I looked around at all the heavenly words moving from mouth to heart, from heart to page.
When the Prophet ﷺ passed away, there was great sorrow — but never confusion. Why? Because the Qur’an lived in us. The companions who had memorized the verses gathered to make sure every word, every letter, was preserved. Under the guidance of Abu Bakr — the first caliph after the Prophet ﷺ — and under the careful eyes of Zayd ibn Thabit, one of the Prophet’s own scribes, the Qur’an was compiled in a complete book.
I watched the huffaz cry as they recited by heart. I held pages as scribes checked every line. It was not easy. But we knew these were the words of Allah — and He would protect them.
Now, many years later, I see children reciting with clear voices, just as I once did. And I smile, because I remember the promise: Allah will preserve His Book.
And He has.
—
Story note: Inspired by authentic hadith (Tirmidhi 2676) and historical accounts of the compilation of the Qur’an under Caliph Abu Bakr and the supervision of Zayd ibn Thabit, a scribe of the Prophet ﷺ.
It was just before Fajr — the early dawn prayer — and I could not sleep. I sat up on my sleeping mat, listening to the soft whispers of men reciting the Qur’an outside. The words drifted through the open door like cool air. I was a young scribe then, still learning to copy the verses with care. You won’t find my name in any surah, but I was there — among the students and recorders of Revelation when the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ walked among us in Medina.
That morning, I followed Zahran, one of the older companions, to the masjid. He was a well-known memorizer of the Qur’an — we called such people huffaz, those who held the entire Qur’an in their hearts. As we walked, I asked him a question burning in my mind.
“Will the Qur’an ever be forgotten after the Prophet ﷺ leaves us?”
Zahran stopped in the dusty street and faced me. Kind lines framed his eyes as he said, “Let me tell you what our Messenger ﷺ said. One day, he told us, ‘I am leaving you two things. If you hold tightly to them, you will never go astray: the Book of Allah and my Sunnah — my teachings.’” (Hadith from Tirmidhi 2676)
I listened, mouth dry. “But how can we protect the Qur’an?”
“By doing what we do,” he smiled, placing a hand on my shoulder. “We memorize it. We write it carefully on bone and bark. We live by it. Every ayah — every verse — will remain safe as long as we love it.”
Later that day, I joined a group on the edge of the masjid, where we sat on mats and copied verses onto parchment. My hands trembled when I wrote the words of Surah Al-Ikhlas — “Say: He is Allah, One.” A man next to me softly recited while another corrected him. A child no older than ten repeated the names of the surahs aloud, his face shining with joy.
I looked around at all the heavenly words moving from mouth to heart, from heart to page.
When the Prophet ﷺ passed away, there was great sorrow — but never confusion. Why? Because the Qur’an lived in us. The companions who had memorized the verses gathered to make sure every word, every letter, was preserved. Under the guidance of Abu Bakr — the first caliph after the Prophet ﷺ — and under the careful eyes of Zayd ibn Thabit, one of the Prophet’s own scribes, the Qur’an was compiled in a complete book.
I watched the huffaz cry as they recited by heart. I held pages as scribes checked every line. It was not easy. But we knew these were the words of Allah — and He would protect them.
Now, many years later, I see children reciting with clear voices, just as I once did. And I smile, because I remember the promise: Allah will preserve His Book.
And He has.
—
Story note: Inspired by authentic hadith (Tirmidhi 2676) and historical accounts of the compilation of the Qur’an under Caliph Abu Bakr and the supervision of Zayd ibn Thabit, a scribe of the Prophet ﷺ.
