spoken and does not speak. He merely brought something into being to speak on Allah’s behalf, and created a voice and made it heard.’ They claimed that speech can come only from an inner cavity, lips, and a tongue.

We said: ‘Can a created being, or anyone other than Allah, say:

“O Moses! * Indeed, I am your Lord” (Tā Hā 11–12),

or say:

“Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me” (Tā Hā 14)?’

Whoever says this claims that someone other than Allah laid claim to lordship. If, as the Jahmī claims, Allah had brought something into being, that created being would have said: ‘O Moses, Allah is the Lord of the worlds.’”

Further on, he said: “How, then, do they deal with the hadith narrated by al-Aʿmash from Khaythamah, from ʿAdī ibn Hātim, who reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: ‘There is not one of you but his Lord will speak to him …’—and the rest of the hadith. As for