has no need of another for His perfection to be established. For the giver of perfection has a greater claim to perfection. Thus, if another bestowed perfection upon Him, it would follow that this other was more perfect than He is, which is impossible. Rather, by virtue of His own holy Essence, He is entitled to the attributes of perfection. His being one who speaks therefore does not depend on another. He must necessarily be one who speaks, and this must always have been and must always remain the case. One who speaks by His will and power is more perfect than one whose speech is inseparable from him without his power or will. Likewise, one who has always spoken whenever He wills is more perfect than one for whom speech became possible after it had not been possible.

Accordingly, His speech is beginningless, even though He speaks by His will and power—even if it is said that He calls out and speaks with a voice. This does not entail that any particular voice is beginningless. Since He spoke the Torah, the Quran, and the Gospel by His will and power, it is not impossible for Him to utter bā (b) before sīn (s). Even if bā and sīn are beginningless as types, this does not entail that a particular instance of bā or sīn is beginningless, given the known distinction between a type and an individual instance. This distinction applies to will, speech, hearing, sight, and the other attributes. It resolves the difficulties raised concerning the unity and multiplicity of these attributes, and their being beginningless or originated. It likewise resolves the difficulties concerning the Lord’s acts, their being beginningless or originated, and the origination of the world.

If it is said that the letters of the alphabet are beginningless in the sense of their types, that is possible—unlike saying that the very utterance spoken by Zayd and ‘Amr is beginningless,