in this interpretation, and that is unanimously agreed upon. As for us (1), after that we affirm an attribute subsisting in the Essence of Allah—exalted is He—and we assert its pre-eternity. We have already shown that it is impossible to describe this attribute as Arabic or non-Arabic, definitive (muḥkam) or allegorical (mutashābih), for all such qualifiers belong to the speech whose createdness they were attempting (2) to demonstrate. We do not contest them over the createdness of that; rather, the speech whose pre-eternity we uphold is unaffected by any of the proofs they have advanced.
Then he said (3): Concerning the Tenth Principle, which deals with the rest of the attributes in its third section.
Chapter Two (4): Demonstrating (5) that (6) the Speech of Allah is one.
It is widely known that the scholars of our school are unanimous on this point. Abū al-Qāsim al-Isfarāʾīnī (7) reports from some of our earliest authorities that they affirmed for Allah five kinds of speech: command, prohibition, statement, inquiry, and call.
He said (8): Know that this issue may be discussed either on the basis of denying ḥāl (9) or on the basis of affirming it; if it is
(1) In manuscripts s and t: “and we only…”.
(2) In Nihayat al-‘Uqul ba‘d al-ism al-mawsul, just before the word “hawwalū” appears the following: “It consists of letters and sounds; thus, the meaning is that the speech which…”.
(3) Al-Razi, Nihayat al-‘Uqul, manuscript, fol. 157.
(4) In the original edition: “the third”, which is incorrect; the correct reading is found in s, t, and Nihayat al-‘Uqul.
(5) The term “bayān” (clarification) is omitted in Nihayat al-‘Uqul.
(6) The text between the quotation marks is an addition in s, t, and Nihayat al-‘Uqul.
(7) Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Jabbar ibn Ali ibn Muhammad al-Isfara’ini, known as al-Asamm, was a theologian of the school of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari, nicknamed al-Iskaf. He was a student of Abu Ishaq al-Isfara’ini and the teacher of al-Juwayni (the Imam of the Two Sanctuaries). He died in 452 AH. See: Tabyīn Kaḍhib al-Muftarī by Ibn ‘Asākir, p. 265; Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfi‘iyya by al-Subkī, vol. 5, pp. 99–100; Siyar A‘lām al-Nubalā’ by al-Dhahabī, vol. 18, p. 117.
(8) That is, al-Razi in Nihayat al-‘Uqul; the passage continues from the preceding text.
(9) The case, as al-Juwayni explains in al-Irshād, p. 80: “A predicate of a being not characterized by existence = … ”.