that He is above it as one created being is above another, as those who liken Allah to His creation maintain. Nor should it be said that there is no Lord above the heavens or upon the Throne, as the Jahmiyyah who deny the divine attributes maintain. Rather, it should be said that He is above His heavens, upon His Throne, distinct from His creation.

He discussed the term “direction,” explaining that it has more than one meaning, and also the term “reality.” He was asked about the Quran and voice, and gave a detailed answer, as he had previously done. He said:

“Whoever says that a person’s voice when reciting the Quran, or the ink of the written Quran, is eternal is mistaken and astray. No scholar among Imam Ahmad’s followers, or among others, has said this. The claim attributed to them—that the Quran is nothing but the voice heard from the reciter and the ink in the written Quran, and that it is nevertheless eternal—is a fabricated lie. Ahmad did not say this.”

He produced statements from Imam Ahmad and his followers, and from the followers of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, al-Ashʿarī, and others, stating:

“Whoever says, ‘My utterance of the Quran is uncreated,’ is an innovator.”

How much more, then, someone who says, “My voice when reciting it is uncreated,” or, “My voice when reciting it is eternal”!

He clarified the issue, explaining that an unqualified denial of letters in Allah’s speech is an innovation: neither Imam Ahmad nor any of the other imams whose teachings are followed ever made such a statement. Rather, the position of the early generations is that the Quran—its letters and its meanings—is the speech of Allah. Speech is attributed in its literal sense to its original speaker, not to the person who conveys and transmits it. He also explained that Allah spoke with a voice, and cited the hadith of Abū Saʿīd, may Allah be pleased with him, recorded in the two Sahīh collections. Then the deputy began