Adam and before he informed them of the names. How, then, could anyone suppose that speech was exclusive to Adam because he had been taught the names?

Moreover, this story, as related by its original teller, has no chain of transmission. He did not transmit it from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or from any of his Companions. At best, it belongs to the Israelite reports which, when their truth or falsehood is unknown, are neither affirmed nor denied. Such reports cannot be relied upon in matters of religion under any circumstances.

There is another account known to have been related by certain shaykhs. Had Abū al-Qāsim cited it, his argument would have been more plausible. Imam Ahmad was told that al-Sarī al-Saqatī had related from Bakr ibn Hubaysh, the devout worshipper, that he said: “When Allah created the letters, they prostrated before Him except for the alif, which said, ‘I will not prostrate until I am commanded.’” Ahmad said: “This is disbelief.”

Bakr ibn Hubaysh, al-Sarī, and other devout worshippers like them related these words only to illustrate the difference between someone who does nothing except what he has been commanded to do and someone who relies on religious innovations that he has not been commanded to practise. This is a sound purpose, for righteous deeds that are accepted are those commanded by Allah and His Messenger, not religious practices instituted without Allah’s permission. Yet many devout worshippers do not accurately retain hadiths or their chains of transmission, and thus frequently make mistakes in a hadith’s chain or wording. For this reason, Yahyā ibn Sa‘īd said: “We have never found the righteous more untruthful in anything than in transmitting hadith”—meaning through error. And Ayyūb said: