The statement, “This person did this and did that,” is ambiguous, for “act” sometimes means the action itself and sometimes what the verbal noun denotes. Thus one says, “I did this; I do it; a doing,” and “I performed this work; I perform it; a working.” When “work” means the action itself, which is what the verbal noun denotes—as with a person’s prayer, fasting, and the like—the work here is the very thing done: the verbal noun and the act denote the same thing. But when what is intended is the result of one’s work—as with weaving cloth, building a house, and the like—the work here differs from the thing produced. Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“They made for him whatever he wished: sanctuaries, statues, basins as large as reservoirs, and firmly set cauldrons.”

He thus describes these manufactured objects as things made by the jinn. The same applies to His words, Exalted is He:

“Allah created you and what you make.”

According to the more correct of the two interpretations, mā means “that which,” referring to the idols they carve. As Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Do you worship what you carve, when Allah created you and what you make?”

That is, Allah created you and created the idols you carve. The hadith narrated by Hudhayfah from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is another example:

“Allah is the Creator of every craftsman and his handiwork.”

Nevertheless, the verse may be cited as evidence that Allah created the servants’ actions through another line of reasoning. One may say: If He is the Creator of the carved objects they make, He must also be the Creator of the configuration they produce in them. These objects become idols only through that configuration; without it, they would not be things made by them. If He is the Creator of that configuration, then He is the Creator of their actions.

The point is that the terms “act,” “work,” and “making” have various senses. Like “building,” “sewing,” and “carpentry,” they can denote either the action expressed by the verbal noun or the thing produced. Likewise, the terms “recitation,” “reading,” “speech,” and “utterance” can denote the very referent of