is His word, which He Himself spoke. All that He, Glorified is He, says by way of reporting is true, just as all that He says by way of command is just. His words are perfect in truth and justice.

Speech bears a relation to its speaker, who issues commands and conveys information through it. It also bears a relation to its subject matter: what is commanded and what is spoken of. Thus, all the speech Allah has spoken shares the fact that He spoke it.

Yet what He says about Himself, such as His words, Exalted is He:

“Say, ‘He is Allah, One,’”

and the Verse of the Throne, and other such passages, is superior to what He says about His creation and their circumstances, such as His words, Exalted is He:

“May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.”

This is the more correct of the two views held by Ahl al-Sunnah and others, and it is the view of the majority of scholars, both earlier and later. For a group of those who identify with Ahl al-Sunnah, as well as others, say that Allah’s speech, considered in itself, does not vary in excellence, on the grounds that it is eternal and that what is eternal does not vary in excellence.

They interpret His words, Exalted is He:

“Whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or