I do not see here anything that I myself do not profess.”

I asked him to append his own signature to the document, stating that its contents were his creed, and he wrote it at the close of those lines.

I then said to Abū ʿAmr al-Hīrī, “Keep this autograph until the discussion dies down, so that none of us can be accused of having added anything to it.”

We dispersed, but scarcely had we done so when so-and-so and so-and-so went to him and said, “The master did not really consider what he wrote in that note; they have betrayed you and distorted the matter.”

He accepted their claim and sent for Abū ʿAmr al-Hīrī, asking him to return the autograph. Abū ʿAmr refused and did not hand it back until Ibn Khuzaymah died. I had already directed that it be buried with me so that I might argue with it before Allah, Exalted is He. In it he had written:

“The Qur’an is the Speech of Allah, Exalted is He, and an attribute of His Essence. None of His Speech is created, produced, or originated. Whoever alleges that any part of it is created or brought into being, or contends that speech is an attribute of action, is a misguided, innovating Jahmī.

“I affirm that Allah has always been speaking, and that speech is an essential attribute of His. Whoever claims that Allah spoke only once and that His speech thereafter ceased has disbelieved in Allah. I also affirm that He, Exalted is He, descends to the heaven of this world and says, ‘Is there anyone who calls upon Me so that I may answer him?’ (1)

“Whoever maintains that this descent is merely the descent of His knowledge or of His commands is astray. He speaks to His servants without asking how. ‘The All-Merciful established Himself above the Throne’ (Tā Hā 20:5) — not, as the Jahmiyya (2) say, that He simply took dominion or seized control.

“Indeed, Allah addresses His servants repeatedly, reiterating to them His narratives, commands, and prohibitions. Whoever claims otherwise is a misguided innovator.”

He then set out the rest of the creed.

I say: This Abū Bakr al-Ṣibghī was the foremost scholar of his time and the chief of the Shāfiʿīs