At a young age, the Prophet told him to learn writing and after doing so he became one of the scribes of the Prophet, writing down the revelation for him. He also wrote the letters that the Prophet sent the kings of different areas around the world. Companions like Ibn Abbas, Ibn Umar, Abu Saeed, and Anas bin Malik learnt Qur'an from Zaid bin Thabit.

Zaid had a strong quest for knowledge. Once the Prophet asked him if he knew Syriac language, he replied no, so the Prophet told him to go and learn it. And he learned it within seventeen days. Zaid was the one that compiled the Quran during the lifetime of the Prophet and he compiled into a book during the caliphate of Abu Bakr. He was also given the responsibility of writing the copies of the Quran during the caliphate of Uthman.

Scholars have greatly praised Zaid ibn Saabit. Ibn Abd al-Barr said 'They say that Zaid excelled others in two things: The Quran and the knowledge of the law of inheritance.' Malik ibn Anas said: 'The people's leader in al-Madinah after Umar was Zaid. And the peoples leader after Zayd was Abdullah ibn Umar. Ibn Sad reported that Zayd was one of the six prominent leaders in Fatwa among 'Umar, Ali, Ibn Masoud, Ubayy, and Abu Musa.'