Abu Bakr sent for me owing to the large number of casualties in the battle of Al-Yamama, while ʿUmar was sitting with him. Abu Bakr said (to me), ʿUmar has come to my and said, 'A great number of Qaris of the Holy Qur'an were killed on the day of the battle of Al-Yamama, and I am afraid that the casualties among the Qaris of the Qur'an may increase on other battle-fields whereby a large part of the Qur'an may be lost. Therefore I consider it advisable that you (Abu Bakr) should have the Qur'an collected.' I said, 'How dare I do something which Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not do?' ʿUmar said, By Allah, it is something beneficial.' ʿUmar kept on pressing me for that till Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chest of ʿUmar and I had in that matter, the same opinion as ʿUmar had." Abu Bakr then said to me (Zaid), "You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicion about you, and you used to write the Divine Inspiration for Messenger of Allah ﷺ. So you should search for the fragmentary scripts of the Qur'an and collect it (in one Book)." Zaid further said: By Allah, if Abu Bakr had ordered me to shift a mountain among the mountains from one place to another it would not have been heavier for me than this ordering me to collect the Qur'an. Then I said (to ʿUmar and Abu Bakr), "How can you do something which Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not do?" Abu Bakr said, "By Allah, it is something beneficial." Zaid added: So he (Abu Bakr) kept on pressing me for that until Allah opened my chest for that for which He had opened the chests of Abu Bakr and ʿUmar, and I had in that matter, the same opinion as theirs. So I started compiling the Qur'an by collecting it from the leafless stalks of the date-palm tree and from the pieces of leather and hides and from the stones, and from the chests of men (who had memorized the Qur'an). I found the last verses of Sirat-at-Tauba: ("Verily there has come unto you an Apostle (Muhammad) from amongst yourselves--' (9.128-129) ) from Khuzaʿima or Abi Khuzaʿima and I added to it the rest of the Sura. The manuscripts of the Qur'an remained with Abu Bakr till Allah took him unto Him. Then it remained with ʿUmar till Allah took him unto Him, and then with Hafsa bint ʿUmar.  

بَعَثَ إِلَىَّ أَبُو بَكْرٍ لِمَقْتَلِ أَهْلِ الْيَمَامَةِ وَعِنْدَهُ عُمَرُ فَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ إِنَّ عُمَرَ أَتَانِي فَقَالَ إِنَّ الْقَتْلَ قَدِ اسْتَحَرَّ يَوْمَ الْيَمَامَةِ بِقُرَّاءِ الْقُرْآنِ وَإِنِّي أَخْشَى أَنْ يَسْتَحِرَّ الْقَتْلُ بِقُرَّاءِ الْقُرْآنِ فِي الْمَوَاطِنِ كُلِّهَا فَيَذْهَبَ قُرْآنٌ كَثِيرٌ وَإِنِّي أَرَى أَنْ تَأْمُرَ بِجَمْعِ الْقُرْآنِ قُلْتُ كَيْفَ أَفْعَلُ شَيْئًا لَمْ يَفْعَلْهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَالَ عُمَرُ هُوَ وَاللَّهِ خَيْرٌ فَلَمْ يَزَلْ عُمَرُ يُرَاجِعُنِي فِي ذَلِكَ حَتَّى شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صَدْرِي لِلَّذِي شَرَحَ لَهُ صَدْرَ عُمَرَ وَرَأَيْتُ فِي ذَلِكَ الَّذِي رَأَى عُمَرُ قَالَ زَيْدٌ قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ وَإِنَّكَ رَجُلٌ شَابٌّ عَاقِلٌ لاَ نَتَّهِمُكَ قَدْ كُنْتَ تَكْتُبُ الْوَحْىَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَتَتَبَّعِ الْقُرْآنَ فَاجْمَعْهُ قَالَ زَيْدٌ فَوَاللَّهِ لَوْ كَلَّفَنِي نَقْلَ جَبَلٍ مِنَ الْجِبَالِ مَا كَانَ بِأَثْقَلَ عَلَىَّ مِمَّا كَلَّفَنِي مِنْ جَمْعِ الْقُرْآنِ قُلْتُ كَيْفَ تَفْعَلاَنِ شَيْئًا لَمْ يَفْعَلْهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ هُوَ وَاللَّهِ خَيْرٌ فَلَمْ يَزَلْ يَحُثُّ مُرَاجَعَتِي حَتَّى شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صَدْرِي لِلَّذِي شَرَحَ اللَّهُ لَهُ صَدْرَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَرَأَيْتُ فِي ذَلِكَ الَّذِي رَأَيَا فَتَتَبَّعْتُ الْقُرْآنَ أَجْمَعُهُ مِنَ الْعُسُبِ وَالرِّقَاعِ وَاللِّخَافِ وَصُدُورِ الرِّجَالِ فَوَجَدْتُ آخِرَ سُورَةِ التَّوْبَةِ {لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِنْ أَنْفُسِكُمْ} إِلَى آخِرِهَا مَعَ خُزَيْمَةَ أَوْ أَبِي خُزَيْمَةَ فَأَلْحَقْتُهَا فِي سُورَتِهَا وَكَانَتِ الصُّحُفُ عِنْدَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ حَيَاتَهُ حَتَّى تَوَفَّاهُ اللَّهُ ﷻ ثُمَّ عِنْدَ عُمَرَ حَيَاتَهُ حَتَّى تَوَفَّاهُ اللَّهُ ثُمَّ عِنْدَ حَفْصَةَ بِنْتِ عُمَرَ قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ اللِّخَافُ يَعْنِي الْخَزَفَ