Hadith record

3. Ahmad ibn Muhammad has narrated from ibn Faddal from Ghalib ibn ‘Uthman from Ruh ibn ‘Abd al-Rahim who has said the following: “This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about buying pages of al- Quran and selling them. He (the Imam) said, ‘Only pages (of al-Quran) were placed near the pulpit. The passage between the wall and the pulpit was no bigger than what a sheep could pass through or a man in a sideways manner.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘A man would come and write down from the pages that were there. Thereafter they bought them.’ I then asked, ‘What do you say about it (buying).’ He (the Imam) replied, ‘I like buying more than selling.’ I then asked, ‘What do you say if I pay for writing al-Quran?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not harmful but in their time that was their way of dealing.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.