of discussing the phrase “the Qur’an’s indwelling in hearts,” as has been noted in other passages.

What makes this even clearer is the fact that every thing enjoys several modes of existence: it has an existence intrinsic to itself; an existence in what is known and in people’s minds; an existence in uttered speech; and an existence in writing and inscription. In other words, it possesses a concrete, particular existence, a cognitive existence, a verbal existence, and a written representation. Take the sun, for instance. First, the sun has its own reality—the heavenly body in the sky. Then the heart can form a conception of the sun; next the tongue pronounces the word “sun”; and finally the pen writes the word “sun.”

The purpose of writing is to correspond to the spoken word; the purpose of the spoken word is to correspond to the mental conception; and the purpose of the conception is to correspond to the external reality. Thus, when a person sees the word “sun” written in a book, or hears someone mention it and says, “This sun—Allah has made it a blazing lamp; this sun rises in the east and sets in the west,” he is referring to what he has heard as sound or seen as script. He does not intend the letters and sounds themselves, for those are not the sun that rises and sets; rather, he intends the reality signified by the writing and the utterance—the referent that fully corresponds to them.

In the same way, one might see the written name “Allah” in a book alongside the name of an idol and declare, “I believe in this and disbelieve in that.” What he means is that he has faith in Allah and rejects the idol: he points to the written name, but his intention concerns the One designated by that name. Likewise, if he hears someone reciting the Most Beautiful Names of Allah and says, “This is the Lord of the worlds,” he is referring to the One who bears those Names.

Of the same nature is the statement of Anas ibn