Saʿid—also known as Abu Kharijah al-Khazraji al-Najjari al-Ansari—the scribe of revelation, may Allah be pleased with him.
He transmitted hadith from the Prophet ﷺ and from the Prophet’s two chief Companions, and portions—perhaps the whole—of the Qur’an were recited before him. His virtues are many.
Those who narrated from him include: Abu Hurayrah; Ibn ʿAbbas—who also recited to him; Ibn ʿUmar; Abu Saʿid al-Khudri; Anas ibn Malik; Sahl ibn Saʿd; Abu Umamah ibn Saʿd; ʿAbd Allah ibn Yazid al-Khatmi; Marwan ibn al-Hakam; Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib; Qabisah ibn Dhuʾayb; his two sons, the jurist Kharijah and Sulayman; Aban ibn ʿUthman; ʿAtaʾ ibn Yasar and his brother Sulayman ibn Yasar; ʿUbayd ibn al-Sabbāq; al-Qasim ibn Muhammad; ʿUrwah; Hujr al-Madari (1); Tawus; Busr ibn Saʿid; and many others.
Among those who recited the Qur’an to him were Ibn ʿAbbas, Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sulami, and more than one other.
He was counted among the bearers of the authoritative proof, and whenever ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab went on Hajj he appointed him as his deputy over Madinah. He was also the one who oversaw the distribution of the spoils on the day of Yarmuk.
His father had been killed before the Hijrah, on the Day of Buʿath (2), so Zayd was raised an orphan.
Exceptionally intelligent, he embraced Islam when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ migrated.