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There is no disagreement in what is reported from Abū Abd Allāh that Allah spoke the Quran before He created creation and existed before all created beings; and that Allah has always spoken however He wills and as He wills. When He wills, He sends down His speech, and when He wills, He does not send it down. The Muʿtazila rejected this, saying: ‘It originated after created beings came into existence.’”

I say: Ibn Hāmid, too, has thus reported both positions, although he mentions agreement concerning Abū Abd Allāh’s position that Allah has always spoken however He wills and as He wills. Yet, under either position, he rejected saying: “He is silent at one time and speaking at another.” He affirmed that one may say: “He speaks whenever He wills and when He wills,” but not that He is silent at any time. Likewise, the Karrāmiyya say that He is not described as having been silent or descending from eternity. Yet there is a difference between his statement and theirs, as I shall relate.

Abū Abd Allāh ibn Hāmid said concerning “the attributes of action”: