those who maintain that it is created is closer, it is because they say that Allah speaks by His will and power, which is the position of the early generations. The opposing group, however, holds that Allah has no power over any of His speech and that His speech is not subject to His will and choice. Rather, in their view, His speech is like His life. They say: “In our view, speech is an attribute of His essence, not an attribute of His action.” Those who maintain that it is created say that it is an attribute of His action, not of His essence. The position of the early generations is that it is both an attribute of His essence and an attribute of His action. Thus, each group agrees with the early generations in one respect but not in another.

Their disagreement concerning Allah’s speech resembles their disagreement concerning His actions, pleasure, anger, will, aversion, love, hatred, joy, wrath, and similar attributes. One group says that these are all created things, separate from Him, which amount to reward and punishment. The other group says that these are all individually eternal realities subsisting in His essence. Some of them then reduce all of these to one and the same will relating to all created things.

Others say: “Rather, they are distinct attributes.” Yet they maintain that each has a single, eternal reality, existing before the things it entails come into existence, just as they said concerning speech. Allah Most High says:

“That is because they followed what displeased Allah and hated His good pleasure.”

He thus states that their deeds displeased Him. He Most High says:

“So when they provoked Our anger, We took vengeance on them.”

That is, they angered Us. He Most High also says:

“Call upon Me; I will respond to you.”

These and similar passages make clear that He became displeased with the disbelievers when they disbelieved, and pleased with the believers when they believed.