Now, whatever is necessarily pre-eternal cannot conceivably pass into non-existence, and whatever is necessarily existent cannot possibly be annulled. A thing is called eternal only because it exists by necessity in and of itself, or because it is inseparably concomitant with that which exists by necessity in and of itself. Were it not inseparable but merely incidental, it would not share in that pre-eternity. The One whose existence is necessary in Himself can never cease to be, and what is inseparable from Him can disappear only if He Himself were to disappear—which is inconceivable, for the disappearance of the concomitant would entail the disappearance of that to which it is conjoined.

Third aspect:
It may be said that people hold several views regarding the speech of God, Mighty and Majestic, and the Christian doctrine is false according to every one of those views; its invalidity therefore stands under all possible assumptions. The speech of God, exalted be He, is either (1) an attribute that subsists in Him, or (2) a created act of His that exists apart from Him, or (3) neither of these, but rather something that occurs within souls. This third view is the farthest of all from the teachings of the prophets, and it is the position adopted by certain philosophers and Sabaeans who claim that no attributes can subsist in the Lord and that He is not a creator by choice.

They add that He possesses no knowledge of particulars and no power to alter the celestial spheres. In their estimation, His “speech” is merely an efflux that overflows upon souls, which they may label “speech” only as a figurative language of disposition. Such people therefore deny that God speaks, declaring, “He is not a speaker”; at best they allow the term “speaker” metaphorically. Because the prophets—peace be upon them—employed the term, those of them who embraced the revealed religions adopted it and then reinterpreted it in this fashion. This is one of the two positions held by the Jahmiyyah.