أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَوْنٍ أَخْبَرَنَا هُشَيْمٌ عَنْ عَوْفٍ عَنْ يَزِيدَ الْفَارِسِيِّ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِعُثْمَانَ بْنِ عَفَّانَ مَا حَمَلَکُمْ أَنْ عَمَدْتُمْ إِلَی بَرَائَةَ وَهِيَ مِنْ الْمِئِينَ وَإِلَی الْأَنْفَالِ وَهِيَ مِنْ الْمَثَانِي فَجَعَلْتُمُوهُمَا فِي السَّبْعِ الطِّوَالِ وَلَمْ تَکْتُبُوا بَيْنَهُمَا سَطْرَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ قَالَ عُثْمَانُ کَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مِمَّا تَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِ الْآيَاتُ فَيَدْعُو بَعْضَ مَنْ کَانَ يَکْتُبُ لَهُ وَيَقُولُ لَهُ ضَعْ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ فِي السُّورَةِ الَّتِي يُذْکَرُ فِيهَا کَذَا وَکَذَا وَتَنْزِلُ عَلَيْهِ الْآيَةُ وَالْآيَتَانِ فَيَقُولُ مِثْلَ ذَلِکَ وَکَانَتْ الْأَنْفَالُ مِنْ أَوَّلِ مَا أُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ بِالْمَدِينَةِ وَکَانَتْ بَرَائَةُ مِنْ آخِرِ مَا نَزَلَ مِنْ الْقُرْآنِ وَکَانَتْ قِصَّتُهَا شَبِيهَةً بِقِصَّتِهَا فَظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهَا مِنْهَا فَمِنْ هُنَاکَ وَضَعْتُهَا فِي السَّبْعِ الطِّوَالِ وَلَمْ أَکْتُبْ بَيْنَهُمَا سَطْرَ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
سنن ابودوٗد · Hadith 786
Narrated Uthman ibn Affan:: Yazid al-Farisi said: I heard Ibn Abbas say: I asked Uthman ibn Affan: What moved you to put the (Surah) al-Baraah which belongs to the mi'in (surahs) (containing one hundred verses) and the (Surah) al-Anfal which belongs to the mathani (Surahs) in the category of as-sab'u at-tiwal (the first long surah or chapters of the Quran), and you did not write "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful" between them? Uthman replied: When the verses of the Quran were revealed to the Prophet ﷺ, he called someone to write them down for him and said to him: Put this verse in the surah in which such and such has been mentioned; and when one or two verses were revealed, he used to say similarly (regarding them). (Surah) al-Anfal is the first surah that was revealed at Madina, and (Surah) al-Baraah was revealed last in the Quran, and its contents were similar to those of al-Anfal. I, therefore, thought that it was a part of al-Anfal. Hence I put them in the category of as-sab'u at-tiwal (the seven lengthy surahs), and I did not write "In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful" between them.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020