who say that the eternal sound is heard from the reciter.

They may sometimes say that what is eternal is the very sound heard from the reciter, and at other times say that two sounds are heard from the reciter: one eternal and the other newly produced. Many—or most—of them do not maintain that the eternal inheres in what is newly produced; rather, they say that it becomes manifest in it, just as a face appears in a mirror. Others among them maintain that the eternal inheres in what is newly produced.

Neither this position nor the preceding positions was held by any of the early generations of the Muslim community or its leading scholars. Neither Imam Ahmad, nor the leading scholars among his followers, nor any other imam said this. Rather, they agree in condemning anyone who says, “My utterance of the Quran is uncreated.” What, then, of someone who says, “My voice is uncreated”? And what of someone who says, “My voice is eternal”?

As for the claim that the ink in a copy of the Quran is eternal, we have not encountered this in any book by anyone belonging to any Muslim group, nor has anyone reported hearing it from a recognized scholar. Some, however, refrain from making any affirmative or negative statement about the ink, saying: “We do not say that it is eternal; rather, we remain silent as a preventive measure.”

Some have attributed belief in the eternity of ink to those whom they call the Hashwiyya, saying: “They maintain that the ink in a copy of the Quran is eternal: while it was in the inkwell, it was newly produced, but once it was on the paper, it became eternal.”