on behalf of those who recite them.” This hadith is in the Sahīh.

Since he commanded that they be recited and mentioned their coming to plead on behalf of the reciter, it is understood that he meant the reciter’s recitation of them, which is his deed. He described this deed—his recitation of the two surahs—as coming in the form he mentioned, just as he described other deeds as coming.

This matter is discussed at length elsewhere: does Allah transform a deed into a self-subsisting substance, or can accidents not be transformed into substances? The same question applies to his statement:

“Death will be brought in the form of a black-and-white ram.”

The point here is that when the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) described the Quran as coming in this form, he meant the reciter’s recitation, which is his deed. That is the reward of the Quran’s reciter. He did not mean that Allah’s very speech, which He uttered and which subsists in Him, takes the form of two clouds. Thus, this provided no evidence for the Jahmiyyah’s claim.

Then, during the Inquisition, Imam Ahmad countered them with the words of the Most High:

“Do they await anything but that Allah should come to them in canopies of clouds?”

He said: “It has been said that it is only His command that comes.” This is how Hanbal transmitted it. No one else who related Ahmad’s debate during the Inquisition transmitted this, including ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ahmad, Sālih ibn Ahmad, al-Marwadhī, and others. Ahmad’s followers therefore differed over this.

Some said: “Hanbal was mistaken; Ahmad did not say this.” They said that Hanbal had made known errors and that this was one of them. This was the approach of Abū Ishāq ibn Shāqlā.