1243—Abū Bakr Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Sayf al-Sijistānī also narrated to us, saying: Al-Sarī ibn Yahyā, the nephew of Hannād ibn al-Sarī, narrated to us, saying: Saīd ibn Ibrāhīm al-Taymī narrated to us, saying: Sayf ibn Umar al-Tamīmī al-Usayyidī narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Abān narrated to us, from Alqamah ibn Marthad, from al-Ayzār ibn Jarwal, from Suwayd ibn Ghafalah al-Jufī, who said: I heard Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—say:
“O people, fear Allah—fear Allah! Beware of going to extremes regarding Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—and calling him ‘the one who tore up the codices.’ By Allah, he tore them up only with the collective agreement of us, the Companions of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He gathered us together and asked, ‘What do you say about this matter of recitation over which the people have differed? One man meets another and says, “My recitation is better than yours; my recitation is superior to yours.” This is akin to disbelief.’
“We replied, ‘What is your view, O ⦗1785⦘ Commander of the Faithful?’
“He said, ‘I believe that I should unite the people upon a single codex. If you differ today, those who come after you will differ even more severely.’
“We replied, ‘What an excellent judgment!’
“He then sent for Zayd ibn Thābit and Saīd ibn al-Ās and said, ‘Let one of you write while the other dictates. If you differ over anything, refer it to me.’ One of them therefore wrote while the other dictated. They differed over nothing in the Book of Allah—Mighty and Majestic—except a single letter in Surah al-Baqarah. One of them said, ‘It is al-tābūt (the Ark),’ while the other said, ‘It is al-tābūh (the Ark).’ They referred it to Uthmān—may Allah be pleased with him—and he said, ‘It is al-tābūt.’”
He related that Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—said: “Had I been entrusted with the same responsibility as he was, I would have done just as he did.”
He related: The people then said to Suwayd ibn Ghafalah, “By Allah, besides whom there is no deity, did you truly hear this from Alī—may Allah be pleased with him?”
He replied, “By Allah, besides whom there is no deity, I truly heard this from Alī—may Allah be pleased with him.”