be qualified by reference to what is within the self, unlike the word kalām (speech), which is not known to have been used to mean only what is within the self. As for His words, Most High:

“Whether you conceal your speech or proclaim it aloud, He knows what is within the hearts,”

they refer to speech that is sometimes uttered quietly, so that others do not hear it, and sometimes aloud, so that they hear it. Thus one speaks of reciting quietly or aloud, and of prayers with quiet or audible recitation.

For this reason, He did not say, “Say it with your tongues or in your hearts.” What is within the self cannot itself be voiced aloud; only what is uttered with the tongue can be voiced aloud. His words,

“He knows what is within the hearts,”

draw attention to the further implication: He knows what is within the hearts, so how could He not know what is spoken? Likewise, He says in another verse:

“If you speak aloud, He surely knows the secret and what is yet more hidden.”

He thereby draws attention to His knowledge of what is spoken aloud. This is also indicated by His words:

“Whether you conceal your speech or proclaim it aloud, He knows what is within the hearts.”

If “speech” meant what is within the self merely because He mentioned His knowledge of what is within the hearts, then He would not have mentioned His knowledge of the other kind—what is spoken aloud. If it is said, “He indicated that by implication,” the reply is, “Rather, He indicated both categories by implication.”

As for His words, Most High:

“Your sign is that you will not speak to people for three days except by gestures,”

He also mentioned this in His words:

“for three nights, though in sound health.”

There He made no exception, although the account is the same. This indicates that the exception is disjunctive. The meaning is: Your sign is that you will not speak to people, but you will gesture to them. There are similar instances in the Quran. His words,

“Then he signalled to them,”

refer to these gestures. Even if we suppose that gestures constitute a connected exception, they would then be included within speech qualified by that exception, as in His words:

“It is not for any human being to