Allah be pleased with him—“Where is Allah?” They say, “He is above just as He is below. It is not known where He is, nor can He be described in terms of place. He is neither in heaven nor on earth.” They deny direction and limit.

The former said, “He has no speech; He merely created speech.” These say, “He spoke once and has been speaking it ever since He spoke; the speech has never ceased. His speech cannot exist in a place where He is not.” Yet they also say, “He is not in any place.”

Then they say, “His speech has neither sound nor letters.” They say, “This is thāj and paper; this is wool and wood. By this, only the inscription was intended, while what was meant was the self. This is the reciter’s voice—do you not find some of it pleasing and some not? This is his utterance. Do you not see that he is recompensed for it?” This went so far that a leader said