—that which is heard, recited, uttered, and written in the muṣḥafs (codices)—is the speech of Allah, uncreated.

On this subject he composed a single-volume work entitled Afʿāl al-ʿIbād (The Actions of the Servants). A number of scholars faulted him for it, unable to grasp his intention—among them al-Dhuhli, Abū Zurʿah, Abū Ḥātim, Abū Bakr al-Aʿyan and others.

Later the doctrine of the Kullābiyyah and the Ashʿarīs emerged. They maintained that the Quran is a meaning inherent in the Divine Self, while what has been revealed is merely its narration, its expression, and an indicator of it. They further said, “This recited text is successive and divisible, whereas the speech of Allah, Exalted is He, cannot admit succession or plurality; rather, it is one single reality subsisting in the Sacred Essence.”

The discussion then expanded, spawning many arguments and offshoots; to refrain from them—by Allah—is part of sound faith, and in Allah alone do we seek strength.

ʿAlī ibn Ḥujr was one of the great vessels of knowledge. About one hundred and seventy-odd (1) persons took transmissions from him in the Two Sanctuaries, Iraq, Syria, the Jazīra, and Khurāsān. He did not meet Mālik ibn Anas; both he and Ḥammād ibn Zayd eluded him, even though he attended hadith sessions in Kūfah and elsewhere during their lifetimes.

He left several beneficial writings, among them a book entitled Aḥkām al-Qurʾān (Legal Rulings of the Quran).

Aḥmad ibn al-Mubārak al-Mustamli said, “I heard him say, ‘I was born in the year 154 AH.’”

Ibrāhīm ibn Urmah, the ḥāfiẓ, related that ʿAlī ibn Ḥujr wrote to one of his brothers:

I yearn for your letter—yet I honor you too much
to voice reproach within a letter.
If we should meet before death overtakes us,
I will soothe the thirst in my breast to remonstrate;
But if the call of destiny outstrips us,
how many a friend already lies beneath the dust. (2)