and an example of this is His statement, Most High:

“If any of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the speech of Allah.”

Likewise, the speech of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is heard from the Companions.

It is well known that when a hadith narrator relates his saying:

“Actions are only by intentions, and each person shall have only what he intended,”

the speech, in both wording and meaning, is that of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He uttered it in his own voice, while the narrator conveyed it through his own movements and vocal sounds. It is also well known that someone conveying speech from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and other speakers like him utters its letters and meanings, even though it is possible to narrate from him by meaning and to substitute some words for others. Thus, Allah recounts in the Quran the statements of peoples who spoke languages other than Arabic.

If it were supposed that the person whose speech was conveyed had spoken only the meaning of the speech, with someone else expressing it on his behalf, he would be like a mute in whom meanings subsist without his expressing them—until someone else expresses them in words of his own. It is well known that “speech” is an attribute of perfection incompatible with muteness.

If someone who says, “No speech subsists in Allah,” has thereby likened Him to inanimate objects, attributed deficiency to Him, and denied Him perfection, then someone who likewise says, “He expresses the meanings within Himself only through an expression that subsists in another,” has likened Him to a mute who expresses himself only through an expression that subsists in another. This view denies Him an attribute of perfection and makes other beings among His creation more perfect than Him.

It has been established elsewhere that the Creator is more deserving of every perfection possessed by a created being, and more deserving of being free of every deficiency from which a created being is free. This is among the proofs establishing His attributes of perfection, such as life, knowledge, and power, for these are attributes of perfection