Whoever maintains that Allah’s speech subsists only in something other than Allah makes that other thing the one possessing this attribute. Thus, the tree would be the one saying to Moses:

“Indeed, I am Allah.”

For this reason, the early generations vehemently condemned those who said this. They said that it was comparable to Pharaoh’s declaration:

“I am your supreme lord.”

That is, this would be speech subsisting in something other than Allah. Hence, advocates of union, such as Ibn ‘Arabī and others like him, explicitly stated the true implications of this view, saying:

“All speech in existence is His speech;
Its prose and verse are alike to us.”

Those who hold the position described above—who agree with the early generations and the leading scholars—do not say that the Lord was devoid of the attributes of perfection in eternity past, or that He was incapable of speech until He acquired the ability to speak, like a child.

Those who say that the Quran is created make speech an attribute of something other than Him, thereby denying Him the attributes of perfection. They say that in eternity past He was incapable of speech, whether created speech or otherwise. Even if they do not explicitly declare that He was incapable of speech in eternity past, this necessarily follows from their position.

The Karrāmiyyah sought to avoid the first error and affirmed that He speaks with speech that subsists in Him. Yet they did not affirm that He spoke in eternity past, or even that He was truly capable of speech in eternity past.

The Kullābiyyah and those who agreed with them, such as the Sālimiyyah and others, attributed speech to Him in eternity past. They said that He possesses this attribute eternally, without beginning or end. Yet they did not regard Him as capable of speech, or as speaking by His will and choice, or as able to bring anything into being