or another, who brings them down, and He makes him understand the meaning He intended by those letters. Gabriel would thus be the first to utter those letters and express through them what Allah intended—the meaning subsisting in His own Self—just as someone who understands a mute person’s gestures expresses what that person means. But no one has ever said that the letters were created before Adam, peace be upon him, and that the angels were not addressed with them.

Second, he assigns the letters to Adam alone, excluding the angels. Yet it is well known that the angels brought down the Quran and other speech of Allah, and that they received the letters from Allah before the prophets received them. How, then, can this be denied to them?

Third, his statement, “He made them a secret of His,” has no substance. A secret is something Allah has concealed from His servants, or some of them, or something containing what He has concealed. These letters, however, are among the most evident things to the children of Adam; indeed, articulating them is humanity’s most evident characteristic.

Likewise, Allah Most High says:
“Then by the Lord of heaven and earth, it is indeed true, just as surely as you speak.”
[Surah al-Dhāriyāt 23]

If it is said that the letters contain meanings Allah has concealed, there is no doubt that they contain every meaning that can be expressed, whether secret or manifest. The special association, then, is that of secrecy with these letters.

Abū al-Qāsim said: “Sahl ibn ‘Abd Allāh said: ‘The letters are a tongue