现存的古兰经早期原本,无论是完整的还是较大的残片,大多不早于希吉拉纪元的第二个世纪。在1976年伊斯兰世界节(World of Islam Festival)期间于大英博物馆展出的最早抄本,年代可追溯至二世纪末。[Lings, M. and Y. H. Safadi: The Qur'an, London, 1976, No. 1A. 另见图版6]不过,也有若干零散的古兰经纸草残片存世,年代可追溯至一世纪。[Grohmann, A.: Die Entstehung des Koran und die altesten Koran-Handschriften', in: Bustan, 1961, pp. 33-8.]埃及国家图书馆藏有一部羊皮纸古兰经抄本,其材料取自羚羊皮,年代被定为希吉拉纪元68年(公元688年),即先知ﷺ逝世后58年。

Most of the early original Qur'an manuscripts, complete or in sizeable fragments, that are still available to us now, are not earlier than the second century after the Hijra. The earliest copy, which was exhibited in the British Museum during the 1976 World of Islam Festival, dated from the late second century. [Lings, M. and Y. H. Safadi: The Qur'an, London, 1976, No. 1A. See also plate 6] However, there are also a number of odd fragments of Qur'anic papyri available, which date from the first century. [Grohmann, A.: Die Entstehung des Koran und die altesten Koran-Handschriften', in: Bustan, 1961, pp. 33-8.]There is a copy of the Qur'an in the Egyptian National Library on parchment made from gazelle skin, which has been dated 68 Hijra (688 A.D.), i.e. 58 years after the Prophet's death.

据记载，奥斯曼时期究竟抄录了多少部《古兰经》，无法确知。苏尤蒂［Makhdum, 1.:

It is not known exactly how many copies of the Qur'an were made at the time of 'Uthman, but Suyuti [Makhdum, 1.:

[Tarikh al-mushaf al-'Uthmani fi Tashqand, Tashkent 1391/1971 p. 17] 说：“著名的有五本。”这大概不包括奥斯曼自己留存的那一本。麦加、大马士革、库法、巴士拉和麦地那各城分别获得了一本。[GdQ, 111. 6, Note 1.] 关于这一主题，古代阿拉伯文献中有若干相关记载，结合现有的最新资料，可以概括如下：

Tarikh al-mushaf al-'Uthmani fi Tashqand, Tashkent 1391/1971 p. 17] says: 'The well-known ones are five'. This probably excludes the copy that 'Uthman kept for himself. The cities of Makka, Damascus, Kufa, Basra and Madina each received a copy. ' [GdQ, 111. 6, Note 1.]There are a number of references in the older Arabic literature on this topic which together with latest information available may be summarised as follows:

阿尔-金迪(卒于约公元236年/850年)在三世纪初写道:为奥斯曼准备的四份抄本中,有三份在火灾和战乱中被毁,而寄往大马士革的那一份在他的时代仍保存在马拉蒂亚。[GdQ. 111, 6. 注释 1.] 伊本·白图泰(779年/1377年)说,他曾在格拉纳达、马拉喀什、巴士拉和其他城市见过奥斯曼时期编定的《古兰经》抄本或抄本残页。[Salih, op. cit., p.87.] 伊本·凯西尔(卒于774年/1372年)记述,他曾见过一部归于奥斯曼名下的《古兰经》抄本,该抄本于希贾拉历518年从提比利亚(巴勒斯坦)被带到大马士革。他说它"非常大,字迹优美清晰、笔力遒劲,墨色浓重,我想是用骆驼皮制成的羊皮纸书写的"。[Salih, op. cit., p.88.] 有人认为,这部抄本后来流入列宁格勒,再从那里到了英国。此后便再无关于它的消息。

Al-Kindi (d. around 236/850) wrote in the early third century that three out of four of the copies prepared for 'Uthman were destroyed in fire and war, while the copy sent to Damascus was still kept at his time at Malatja. [GdQ. 111, 6. Note 1.] Ibn Batuta (779/1377) says he has seen copies or sheets from the copies of the Qur'an prepared under 'Uthman in Granada, Marakesh, Basra and other cities. [Salih, op. cit., p.87.] Ibn Kathir (d. 774/1372) relates that he has seen a copy of the Qur'an attributed to 'Uthman, which was brought to Damascus in the year 518 Hijra from Tiberias (Palestine). He said it was 'very large, in beautiful clear strong writing with strong ink, in parchment, I think, made of camel skin'. [Salih, op. cit., p.88.] Some believe that the copy later on went to Leningrad and from there to England. After that nothing is known about it.

有人认为，这部穆斯哈夫一直保存在大马士革的清真寺中，直到1310年（1892年）那场火灾之前它最后一次被见到。[萨利赫，前引书，第89页；穆尔在《马穆鲁克王朝》中也写道，这部手稿于1893年在大马士革被焚毁；参见阿博特，前引书，第51页。]

Others hold that this mushaf remained in the mosque of Damascus, where it was last seen before the fire in the year 1310/1892.' [Salih, op. cit., p.89; Muir, in 'The Mameluke Dynasties' also writes that this manuscript was burnt in Damascus in 1893; see Abbott, op. cit., p.51.]

开罗侯赛因清真寺保存着一部古老的《古兰经》抄本。其字体为古老的风格，尽管写作时间为Ki6，但它很有可能是从奥斯曼的《穆斯哈夫》抄录而来的。 [Kamal, op. cit., p.56.]

There is a copy of an old Qur'an kept in the mosque of al-Hussain in Cairo. Its script is of the old style, although Ki6, and it is quite possible that it was copied from the Mushaf of 'Uthman. [Kamal, op. cit., p.56.]

伊本·祖拜尔(卒于614年/公元1217年)于580年/公元1184年在麦地那的清真寺里见过这部手稿。有人说它一直保存在麦地那,直到1334年/公元1915年才被土耳其人从那里取走。据报道,这一抄本被土耳其当局移至伊斯坦布尔,之后在第一次世界大战期间从那里转到了柏林。结束第一次世界大战的《凡尔赛和约》中包含以下条款:

Ibn Jubair (d. 614/1217) saw the manuscript in the mosque of Madina in the year 580/1184. Some say it remained in Madlna until the Turks took it from there in 1334/1915. It has been reported that this copy was removed by the Turkish authorities to Istanbul, from where it came to Berlin during World War I. The Treaty of Versailles, which concluded World War I, contains the following clause:

第246条:自本和约生效之日起六个月内,德国须将哈里发奥斯曼的原本《古兰经》归还给汉志国王陛下。该经书曾被土耳其当局从麦地那移走,据称已被献给前皇帝威廉二世。[Israel, Fred L. (ed.): Major Peace Treaties of Modern History, New York, Chelsea House Pub., Vol. ll, p.l418.] 此后该抄本抵达伊斯坦布尔,但并未到达麦地那。[关于该抄本的同一信息也曾见于1938年开罗一份杂志(Makhdum, op. cit., p.l9)。令人意外的是,标准著作《古兰经史》第三卷于1938年在德国出版,即凡尔赛条约签订之后很久,该书虽详细讨论了奥斯曼本《古兰经》及古抄本,却对此事只字未提。另外,塔什干《奥斯曼穆沙夫史》的作者也表示,他不知如何理解这一记载。]

'Article 246: Within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, Germany will restore to His Majesty, King of Hedjaz, the original Koran of Caliph Othman, which was removed from Medina by the Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented to the ex-Emperor William II." [Israel, Fred L. (ed.): Major Peace Treaties of Modern History, New York, Chelsea House Pub., Vol. ll, p.l418.] The manuscript then reached Istanbul, but not Madina. [The same information about this copy was published in a Cairo magazine in 1938 (Makhdum, op. cit., p.l9). Surprisingly the standard book Geschichre des Qorans, the third part of which was published in Germany in 1938, i.e. well after the Treaty of Versailles, although discussing the 'Uthmanic Qur'an and old manuscripts in detail, makes no reference whatsoever to this event. Also, the writer of the History of the Mushaf of ' Uthman in Tashkent, indicates that he does not know what to make of this reference.]

这份抄本被称为"奥斯曼本"，据说奥斯曼本人保存着它，并且据称他在诵读此抄本时被杀。[伊本·赛阿德：《大类聚传》，开罗，出版年不详，第3卷第1部分，第51–52页。]据一些人说，倭马亚人将它带到了安达卢西亚，之后它又从那里传到了非斯（摩洛哥）。伊本·白图泰提到，在伊历第八世纪时它仍在那里，上面还有血迹。从摩洛哥起，它或许又辗转传到了撒马尔罕。

This is the name used for the copy which 'Uthman kept himself, and it is said he was killed while reading it. [Ibn Said: al- Tabaqatal-kubra, Cairo, n.d., Vol. 111, (1). pp. 51-2.] According to some the Umayyads took it to Andalusia, from where it came to Fas (Morocco) and according to Ibn Batuta it was there in the eighth century after the Hijra, and there were traces of blood on it. From Morocco, it might have found its way to Samarkand.

[Makhdum, op. cit., p.22ff.] 这是现存于塔什干（乌兹别克斯坦）的抄本。它可能是伊玛目抄本，也可能是奥斯曼时期所抄写的其他副本之一。

[Makhdum, op. cit., p.22ff.] This is the copy now kept in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). It may be the Imam manuscript or one of the other copies made at the time of 'Uthman.

它于伊斯兰历890年(公元1485年)来到撒马尔罕,在那里一直保存到1868年。随后,俄国人于1869年将其带到圣彼得堡。它在那里一直保存到1917年。一位俄国东方学家对其作了详细描述,称其中许多书页受损,部分书页缺失。1905年,S. 皮萨列夫制作了这部古兰经抄本的影印本,约50册。一册被寄送给奥斯曼苏丹阿卜杜勒·哈米德、伊朗国王、布哈拉的埃米尔、阿富汗、非斯,以及一些重要的穆斯林人士。现有一册藏于美国哥伦比亚大学图书馆。[《穆斯林世界》第30卷(1940年),第357-8页。]此后,该抄本被送回原处,并于1924年抵达塔什干,此后一直保存在那里。

It came to Samarkand in 890 Hijra (1485) and remained there till 1868. Then it was taken to St. Petersburg by the Russians in 1869. It remained there till 1917. A Russian orientalist gave a detailed description of it, saying that many pages were damaged and some were missing. A facsimile, some 50 copies, of this mushaf was produced by S. Pisareff in 1905. A copy was sent to the Ottoman Sultan 'Abdul Hamid, to the Shah of Iran, to the Amir of Bukhara, to Afghanistan, to Fas and some important Muslim personalities. One copy is now in the Columbia University Library (U.S.A.). [The Muslim World, Vol . 30 ( 1940), pp.357-8.] The manuscript was afterwards returned to its former place and reached Tashkent in 1924, where it has remained since.

据称，苏联当局制作了更多的副本，并不时将其赠予来访的穆斯林国家元首和其他重要人物。1980年，在美国制作了此类仿真本的影印本，附有M. Hamidullah撰写的两页序言。

Apparently the Soviet authorities have made further copies, which are presented from time to time to visiting Muslim heads of state and other important personalities. In 1980, photocopies of such a facsimile were produced in the United States, with a two-page foreword by M. Hamidullah.

作者在塔什干《奥斯曼穆斯哈夫史》一书中给出了该抄本真实性的若干理由。除去各种表明这一点的历史记载不计，这些理由如下：

The writer of the History of the Mushaf of 'Uthmtln in Tashkent gives a number of reasons for the authenticity of the manuscript. They are, excluding the various historical reports which suggest this, as follows:

这部穆萨哈夫所用的文字，是公元一世纪前半叶（伊斯兰历第一世纪上半期）所通行的书写体。

 The fact that the mushaf is written in a script used in the first half of the first century Hijra.

这一点在于：该经本是书写在羚羊皮制成的羊皮纸上的，而后来的古兰经抄本则写在类似纸张的纸页上。

 The fact that it is written on parchment from a gazelle, while later Qur'ans are written on paper-like sheets.

这一事实是：它没有任何变音符号，而这些符号大约是在公元一世纪的第八个十年才引入的；因此，该手稿必定写于那之前。

 The fact that it does not have any diacritical marks which were introduced around the eighth decade of the first century; hence the manuscript must have been written before that.