Some twenty years later, the Caliph Othmān appointed a commission, consisting of Zāid, the original editor, and three men of Mohammed’s own tribe, to decide more definitely upon the proper text. When this edition was completed, Othmān sent copies to all the principal cities in the empire, and his recension has remained the authorized text, having been adopted by all schools of Mohammedan theologians from the time of its completion[214] to the present. No attempt was made in this work to present any chronological arrangement, although the chapters have prefixed to them the name of the place where they were supposed to be revealed. Attempts have been made by both Arabic and European scholars to prepare an intelligible chronological arrangement, but it will be seen that the work is one of great difficulty. The most critical effort upon this subject, and the most successful, has been made by Nöldeke, whose arrangement is the best which Arabic tradition, combined with European criticism, can furnish. TEACHING OF THE KORĀN. The Korān is largely composed of fanciful stories, which have been woven around the characters and incidents of Biblical narration. There are however some cardinal points of doctrine which are freely taught, and the great central creed of Mohammedanism is that “There is no god but God, and Mohammed is his prophet.” The confession of this Kelimah, or creed, is the first duty of every convert, and after this he is required to pray, fast, give alms, and make pilgrimages. The name of God in Arabic is Allah, being composed of the article al, “the,” and ilāh, “a god.” It is a very old Semitic word and is evidently connected with, or derived from the El and Elohīm of the Hebrews. According to Muslim theology, Allāh is eternal, and everlasting—comprehending all things, but comprehended of nothing. His attributes are expressed by ninety-nine epithets which are used in the Korān, and which in Arabic are single words, and generally participial forms, but in the translation they are sometimes rendered by verbs as “He creates” for “He is the creator.”