310 Origin and progress of writing down historical facts. [No. 4. 



commit them to writing. Before commencing, 'Omar thought proper 

 to try the Istikharah (to consult fate or according to the Mo7*am- 

 madan notion, to obtain an expression of the will of God) for one 

 month. One day, after he had obtained the expression of the will 

 of God, he said : It had been my intention to write down the Sunan, 

 but I found that the nations who have been before you, have written 

 books, and trusted upon them, and left the book of God. Never 

 will I in any way do any thing what might emulate with the book 

 of God." 



Several isnads are given for this Aadyth, so that its authenticity 

 seems to me to be beyond a doubt. 



24. " Khalid b. 'Orfo^ah relates : I was sitting with 'Omar when 

 there came a man of the 'Abd al-Qays tribe, who dwelled at al-Sus. 

 'Omar asked him, Are you A. B. the son of C. D. of the 'Abd al- 

 Qays tribe ? Answer : Yes. Do you reside at al-Sus ? He answered, 

 again in the affirmative. 'Omar struck him upon this with a point- 

 less spear which he had in his hand. The man said, What is my 

 fault? 'Omar upon this repeated the verse of the Qoran, 12, 1-3, 

 and gave him three more strokes with the cane. The man again 

 asked, What is the matter ? 'Omar replied : Tou are the man who 

 has copied the book of Daniel lK*H«J Ovs"^ ^s'^\ oo|. The man 

 said, Tell me what I am to do, and I will obey. The Khalif answered : 

 Go and efface it with hot water and white wool, and do not read it 

 nor give it to any body to read. And if I hear that you read it or 

 give it to any one to read, I punish you severely. Upon this, he 

 permitted him to sit down, and when he was seated, he said: I went 

 and copied a book of the believers in the scripture. Then I bound 

 it in red leather and brought it [to the prophet] and he asked: 

 What have you in your hand, 'Omar ? I answered, A book which I 

 copied in order to increase the knowledge which we already possess. 

 The prophet got very angry, so much so that he got quite red. We 

 were just going to the Friday prayers, and the Anc,ar said, The pro- 

 phet is angry — to arms ! and they surrounded his pulpit. The prophet 

 said : The revelation which has been given to me contains all others 

 and seals them, and it is an abstract of them. My revelation is of 

 unalloyed purity. Do not allow yourselves to be made confused and 

 do not follow those who are confused; (the Jews and Christians.)" 



