it is impermissible to deny that it is Allah’s speech. For speech is truly attributed to the one who originally uttered it and whose attribute it is, even if someone else has uttered it by way of conveying and transmitting it. It is the speech of the one who originally spoke it and whose attribute it is, not of the one who conveys it in transmission.

For we know with necessary certainty from the religion of Allah’s Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and that of this ummah’s early generations that, were someone to say:

“These letters—the letters of the Quran—are not part of the Quran; rather, ‘Quran’ refers only to the meanings,”

they would condemn his statement in the strongest terms. They would regard him as they would someone who says:

“The body of Allah’s Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is not included in the designation ‘Allah’s Messenger’ (may Allah bless him and grant him peace); rather, this designates the soul, not the body.”

Or someone who says:

“Prayer does not denote the movements of the heart and body; rather, it denotes only the heart’s actions.”

Likewise, al-Shahrastānī—one of those most knowledgeable about religions, sects, and doctrines—stated in Nihāyat al-iqdām that the view that the Quran’s letters came into existence is a newly introduced view, and that the position of this ummah’s early generations was to deny that they were created. Yet he himself was a leading figure among those who held that they came into existence.

No discerning person should suppose that anything in reason or revelation contradicts this. Rather, whoever has delved deeply into these doctrines and understood their subtleties knows with certainty that sound reason, which never errs, contains nothing that contradicts the position of the early generations and the people of hadith; rather, it contradicts