of action, not a tongue of essence, for they are an act in something acted upon.’” He said: “This too explicitly affirms that the letters are created.”

I say: This statement has no chain of transmission going back to Sahl. The statements of Sahl ibn ‘Abd Allāh and his companions concerning the Sunnah, the divine attributes, and the Quran are too well known to need mentioning here. Sahl was among the strongest proponents of the view that the entire Quran—its letters and meanings—is uncreated. Indeed, his companion Abū al-Hasan ibn Sālim was the person best acquainted with his teachings, and his own position and that of his companions on this matter are well known. Abū Bakr ibn Ishāq al-Kalābādhī mentioned in An Introduction to the Doctrines of Sufism that al-Hārith al-Muhāsibī and Abū al-Hasan ibn Sālim both held that Allah speaks with a voice. The position of the Sālimiyyah, the followers of Sahl, is clear on this matter. This well-known, established, and manifest position cannot therefore be set aside on account of an unsubstantiated report with no chain of transmission.

Moreover, taken at face value, this statement displays such a lack of knowledge that it is unworthy of attribution to Sahl ibn ‘Abd Allāh. For when he says, “They are an act in something acted upon,” if he means an act