On this basis, we said:

His command is eternal, and His words are beginningless. The words are manifestations of the command; spiritual beings are manifestations of the words; and bodies are manifestations of spiritual beings. Origination and creation begin only with spirits and bodies, whereas the words, letters, and command are beginningless and eternal. Just as His command does not resemble ours, His words and the letters of His words do not resemble our speech: they are sacred, celestial letters. Likewise, letters are the basic constituents of words, words are the causes of spiritual beings, and spiritual beings govern corporeal beings. The entire universe is sustained by Allah’s words and preserved by Allah’s command.”

He said:

“Let no rational person overlook the position of the early generations and the emergence of the view that letters have a temporal beginning, for this is a matter of consequence. They acknowledge the distinction between recitation and what is recited, and between writing and what is written, and hold that the recitation, which is