is a Speaker with a voice, as the sound hadiths (1) attest; yet that voice is unlike the voices of created beings—neither the voice of the reciter nor any other. Allah: nothing is comparable to Him, neither in His Essence, His attributes, nor His acts. Just as His knowledge, power, and life do not resemble the knowledge, power, and life of the creature, so His speech in no way resembles the speech of created beings (2); nor do His meanings resemble their meanings, nor His letters their letters, and the Lord’s voice does not resemble the servant’s voice. Whoever likens Allah to His creation has deviated concerning His names and His signs—and whoever rejects what He has attributed to Himself has likewise deviated with respect to His names and His signs (3). In the extensive, fully detailed reply (4) I have already set down the gradations of these doctrinal positions.
(1) Among these is what al-Bukhari records in his Sahih on the authority of ‘Abdullah ibn Anīs, who said: I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, say: “Allah will assemble His servants and call them in a voice heard from afar as it is heard close by: ‘I am the Sovereign; I am the Requiter.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, vol. 8, p. 194, Book of Tawḥīd, chapter on the verse “Nor will intercession benefit with Him except for whom He has permitted” [Qur’an 10:18]). Similarly, al-Bukhari narrates from Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “Allah says, ‘O Adam,’ and Adam replies, ‘Here I am, at Your service.’ Then He proclaims in a voice: ‘Allah commands you to admit from your offspring a company to the Fire.’” (ibid., p. 195, same volume, book, and chapter). The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—earlier cited al-Bukhari on the creation of the servants’ actions. And Imam Aḥmad, in his refutation of the Jahmiyya and the atheists (zanādiqa), maintains that Allah speaks in a voice befitting His majesty and greatness, unlike the voices of created beings (see pp. 380–384).
(2) In the printed edition: al-makhluq (the created).
(3) The text in curly braces is absent in manuscript S.
(4) The Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—will shortly mention that this is the wording of the ‘extended answer’ in the Fatwā al-Miṣriyya; it is likely what is meant here by the “extended answer.” The discussion of the Fatwā al-Miṣriyya was presented above. See also the scholarly positions on this issue in Majmū‘ Fatāwā Ibn Taymiyya, vol. 12, pp. 162–167; and Jāmi‘ al-Rasā’il wa-l-Masā’il, “Book on the Sound Method of the Righteous Predecessors in Verifying the Issue of Divine Speech.”