And with regard to His saying,

“the words of Allah would not be exhausted” (1),

it has been said (2) that He referred to His Speech (3) as “words” because it contains the benefits found in individual words and stands in their place; therefore it was fitting to describe it with a plural form as an expression of exaltation (4). A comparable nuance is found in His true statement (5)(6):

“Indeed, it is We who have sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will surely preserve it” (7),

and likewise in His saying:

“Indeed, it is We who give life and cause death” (8),

and in His saying:

“Indeed, Abraham was a nation, devoutly obedient to Allah” (9),

meaning that he fulfilled the role of an entire community. The same applies to His saying:

“We shall set up the just scales for the Day of Resurrection” (10),

while only a single scale is intended.

Another interpretation (11) is that the expressions and indications pointing to the comprehensible meanings of His Speech can never be exhausted (12).

I say: This is what they have put forward, yet anyone who reflects upon it will realize that it is among the most groundless assertions and the most defective analogies, for they have posed two questions: