‘You ask.’ He and all his companions thought they could get the better of me! They imagined that, if I departed from the text of revelation, I would be unable to speak competently about anything else.”

‘Abd al-‘Azīz said:

“I said: ‘Bishr, do you say that Allah’s speech is created?’

“He replied: ‘I say that Allah’s speech is created.’”

He said:

“I said to him: ‘You must necessarily accept one of three alternatives: that Allah created the Quran—which I myself hold to be His speech—within Himself; that He created it as something subsisting independently in its own right; or that He created it in something other than Himself. Tell me your position.’

“Bishr said: ‘I say that it is created, and that He created it just as He created all things.’

“‘Abd al-‘Azīz said:

‘I said: “Commander of the Faithful, we set aside the Quran, the text of revelation, the Sunnah, and the transmitted reports when he fled from them and claimed that he could establish his argument. I am conceding to him that the Quran is created, yet Bishr has again resorted to evading the answer and has nothing more to say. If he wishes to debate me, it must be on the condition that he answers my questions; otherwise, the Commander of the Faithful is best placed to judge whether to dismiss me. For Bishr only wants to come up against