Likewise, if we suppose that we translated the Quran in a permissible manner, one would not say that the translation is “Quran,” nor would we call it “Quran.” If, then, the Quran were Allah’s speech solely on account of its meaning, while its wording and composition were not Allah’s speech but were called such only because they signify Allah’s speech, anything conveying the same meaning as this wording and composition would share its designation and rulings. It would therefore have to be called “Quran” and be subject to the rulings governing the Quran. This matter is discussed at length elsewhere.

The Ninth Argument

This Quran, which the Muslims recite, is the speech of Allah that He sent down to His Prophet, as established by the revealed texts and the consensus of the Muslims. Allah has declared whoever says that it is the word of a human being to be a disbeliever, and has threatened to cast him into Saqar, saying:

“Leave Me with the one I created alone,”

—through His words—

“Indeed, he thought and deliberated.
So may he be destroyed—how he deliberated!
Then may he be destroyed—how he deliberated!
Then he looked;
then he frowned and scowled;
then he turned away and was arrogant,
and said, ‘This is nothing but magic handed down.
This is nothing but the word of a human being.’”

There is no doubt that, by saying, “This is nothing but the word of a human being,” he did not mean what Allah meant by saying, “Indeed, it is the word of a noble messenger.” Had he meant that human beings conveyed it from someone else, just as people learn it from one another, this would not have been false. Rather, he meant that it had originated with human beings and been composed by them.

Thus, whoever holds that its “wording and composition” originated with Muhammad has made half of it the word of human beings. Whoever holds that they originated with Gabriel has made half of it the word of the angels; and whoever holds it to be