He has also stated in several places that He called to Moses, as in His words:

“And We called him from the side of the Mount,”

to the end of the verse. He also says:

“When he came to it, he was called from the right bank of the valley,”

to the end of the verse. By the agreement of language scholars, a “call” can only be an audible sound. This is something upon which the early Muslims and the majority of Muslims agree.

The People of the Book say that Moses’s Lord called to him with a call that he heard with his own ears, and that He called to him with a voice that Moses heard. A voice can only be speech, and speech can only consist of letters arranged in sequence. Allah Most High says:

“The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.”

He also says:

“Hā Mīm. A revelation from the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful.”

And He says:

“Hā Mīm. The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.”

Thus, He has made clear in several places that the Book—the Arabic Quran—was sent down from Allah.

This is the meaning of the early Muslims’ statement: “From Him it originated.” Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him, said: “From Him it originated”—that is, He is the One who spoke it. Those who said that it was created maintained that He created it in something other than Himself, so that it emerged from that created thing. The early Muslims therefore said: “From Him it originated”—meaning that He is the One who spoke it. He did not create it in something else, such that it would be the speech of the subject in which He created it.

For when Allah Most High creates an attribute in a subject, that attribute belongs to that subject, not to the Lord of all worlds. If He creates a taste or a color in a subject, it is that subject that moves and takes on color thereby. Likewise, if He creates life, will, power, knowledge, or speech in a subject, it is that subject that wills