in far-reaching error—or, he also said, in manifest error.

My father said, “The only reason I have left out the chains of transmission is the oath I swore earlier, an oath the Commander of the Believers knows of. Had it not been for that, I would have recorded every report with its full isnād.

Allah, exalted be He, says: “If any of the polytheists seeks your protection, grant him protection until he hears the speech of Allah” (Sūrat al-Tawbah 9:6).

He also says: “Surely His is the creation and the command” (Sūrat al-Aʿrāf 7:54), thereby telling us that the command is distinct from the creation.

And He says: “The All-Merciful, taught the Qur’an, created man, and taught him articulate speech” (Sūrat al-Raḥmān 55:1-4). Thus He makes clear that the Qur’an is part of His knowledge.

The Exalted further says: “The Jews and the Christians will never be pleased with you until you follow their religion. Say: ‘The guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance.’ And if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, you will have no ally or helper against Allah” (Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:120);

and: “Even if you were to bring to those who were given the Scripture every sign, they would not follow your qiblah … and if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, you would then be one of the wrongdoers” (Sūrat al-Baqarah 2:145).

Therefore the Qur’an is from Allah’s knowledge. These verses prove that what came to him was indeed the Qur’an.

It has been transmitted from the early generations that they used to say, “The Qur’an is the speech of Allah, uncreated,” and this is the view I hold. I am not a man of speculative theology, and I deem no discussion on any of these matters acceptable unless it is based on the Book of Allah, a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, or a report from his Companions or the Successors. Anything beyond that is blameworthy discourse.

This epistle’s chain of transmission is as radiant as the sun; contemplate this luminous breath—unlike the epistle of al-Istakhri (1) or the refutation of the Jahmiyyah that has been fabricated and attributed to Abū ʿAbd