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



not what I meant, I said, He who lies intentionally." Upon this, we 

 continued to repeat his sayings. I asked him : " We hear from you 

 many things, shall we write them down. He answered, Write them 

 down, there is no harm." 



'Abd Allah b. 'Amr relates: " We said to the prophet, We hear 

 sayings from you which we cannot remember, shall we write them 



JO J 



down? He answered, By all means, do write them down." 



There are thirty versions of this 7^adyth extant, which differ very 

 slightly from each other. Thus in most of them is Lx^ instead of 

 siuj^L*!, and in some the answer of the prophet is simply **J. In some 

 versions is added : l$s* ^)l dj'M Ol ^ij**^ *k f*J ^M M^fj v**^ *** 

 " We asked, Even if you are influenced by likings or dislikings ?" 

 and the prophet answered, " Yes, for I never speak anything but 

 the truth." The isnads for these thirty versions can be reduced to 

 four. 'Abd Allah related it to his son, and he communicated it to 

 his son, 'Amr, and after 'Amr the isnads diverge very much. 'Abd 

 Allah also related these words to his grandson Sho'ayb b. Moham- 

 mad b. 'Abd Allah, who transmitted them to his pupils, and through 

 several of them, it has come down to us. And finally, 'Abd Allah 

 mentioned them also to 'A£a, and he related them to his son, 'Oth- 

 man, who again told them to his pupils, and they preserved them. 

 There is besides a version, which differs in expression from the 

 above, and which has been heard from 'Abd Allah himself by Khalid 

 b. Yazyd aud by Zayd 'Ammy. Therefore, unless 'Abd Allah him- 

 self invented the story, it must be true. 



41. <*JJ| dj*»j i^y° **-*.^t ^ d? v^l °^' 3j+* l^ *^' «*** ^ 



* j^li LS ^o - j~>. U x^jj ^aJ ls^\j* *sH^ Jlii^^Uj aIJ| dj^>jJ tJJ'd, 

 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr relates: "I was in the habit of writing all 

 those sayings I heard from the prophet, which I wished to remem- 

 ber. The Qorayshites prevented me, and said, ' You write down what 

 you hear from the prophet, though he is but a man who is guided 

 by his likings and dislikings.' Upon this I ceased writing, and I 



