to him the letters of the alphabet on twenty-one sheets. The transmitter may thus have meant that Adam, unlike the angels, was singled out to be taught writing with these letters, as the Most High says:

“Who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know.”
[Surah al-‘Alaq 4–5]

Although Allah has described the angels as writing, as the Most High says:

“Noble recorders, who know whatever you do.”
[Surah al-Infitār 11–12]

And He says:

“Our messengers are with them, recording.”
[Surah al-Zukhruf 80]

It does not necessarily follow that their written letters resemble those written by human beings. For those who said that He created letters may have meant that He created His servants’ voices. There is no doubt that Allah is the Creator of His servants’ voices and deeds. But this does not imply that the letters of the Quran, or letters in an unrestricted sense, are created. Rather, a distinction must be made between what belongs to the attributes of Allah Most High and what is peculiar to created beings.

Interpreting the account as referring to ink is not its apparent meaning, for it says: “Then the letters flowed upon Adam’s tongue.” Nor is that interpretation particularly convincing. Yet for people like him to cite such accounts to explain matters of belief is a way of plunging into ignorance and misguidance. Once it becomes clear that these accounts cannot be authenticated either from their transmitters or from their original speakers, and that they contain various kinds of falsehood, offering these interpretations would then be