Allah’s speech; for speech belongs to the one who originally uttered it, whether as a command he issues or a report he conveys. It is not the speech of someone conveying it from another, for the messenger’s duty is only to convey the message clearly.

When someone recites it to convey it, he may refer to it as Allah’s speech and say, “This is Allah’s speech,” without considering the attributes of the servants through which they convey it. Or he may refer to the servant’s own attribute, such as his movement and life, or to both together. In the first case, what is referred to is uncreated; in the second, it is created; and in the third, it includes both what is created and what is uncreated. Anything comparable to this found in human speech is comparable to the servant’s attribute, never to the Lord’s attribute.

If someone says, “The letter qāf in His words, ‘And establish prayer for My remembrance,’ is like the qāf in the words, ‘Stop, you two, and let us weep at the memory of a beloved and a dwelling,’” the reply is: What Allah has spoken and what has been heard from Him does not resemble the attributes of created beings. However, when we convey Allah’s speech, we convey it only through our own attributes. Our attributes are created, and what is created resembles what is created.

This provides an answer to both groups—to those who compare the creature’s attribute to the Creator’s attribute and thus deem it uncreated. For the Jahmiyyah, who deny the divine attributes, resemble the Jews, while the proponents of divine indwelling who liken creation to the Creator