He said therein:
“I heard the Imām Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad say: I heard the Imām Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad say: I heard the Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid al-Isfarāʾīnī say: ‘My doctrine, and that of al-Shāfiʿī and the jurists of the various cities, is that the Qur’an(1) is the Speech of God, uncreated. Whoever claims it is created is a disbeliever. The Qur’an was borne by Gabriel—upon him be peace—having heard it from God Most High; the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—heard it from Gabriel; and the Companions heard it from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is this very Qur’an that we(2) recite with our tongues, that lies between the two covers, and that resides in our hearts—audible, written, memorised, and inscribed. Every single letter of it—such as the bāʾ and the tāʾ—is wholly the Speech of God, uncreated. Whoever says it is created is a disbeliever; upon him be the curses of God, the angels, and all people.’”

Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan said:
“Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid(3) was vehement in condemning al-Bāqillānī and the practitioners of speculative theology.”

Abū al-Ḥasan also said:
“The Shāfiʿī Imams have always disdained and refused(4) to be linked to al-Ashʿarī. They repudiate the foundations upon which al-Ashʿarī built his school and forbid their students and loved ones from circling around it. I heard several shaykhs and Imams—among them the ḥadīth-master al-Muʾtamin ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-Sājī—say: ‘We heard a group of trustworthy shaykhs relate that Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid Aḥmad ibn Abī Ṭāhir al-Isfarāʾīnī, the Imām of the Imams who filled the earth with knowledge and disciples, whenever he set out for Friday prayer from the district(5) of al-Karkh to the congregational mosque…’”}                                      47                                                    ���