and that these sounds and this ink are both eternal.” No one who says that the Quran consists of nothing but letters and sounds has made this claim. Rather, they have denied and rejected it, and accused those who attribute to them the belief that ink is eternal of lying. Yet ignorant extremists may say such things, as is reported of some prominent individuals among them, such as the inhabitants of certain mountains: that the paper, the leather binding, the peg, and the surrounding portion of the wall are Allah’s speech—or similar nonsense that no Muslim or rational person would utter.
The offshoots of the “affirming Lafziyyah,” who say that the Quran consists of nothing but letters and sound, report that their opponents hold that the Quran is not preserved in hearts, recited by tongues, or written in copies of the Quran. This, too, is not their opponents’ position. Rather, they agree that the Quran is preserved in hearts, recited by tongues, and written in copies of the Quran. However, when the ignorant and extreme among them reflect on the true implications of their more moderate members’ position—that Allah did not speak the Arabic Quran; that it is nothing but a single meaning subsisting in His Essence; that the sounds produced by servants and the ink in copies of the Quran signify that meaning; that there is no actual speech of Allah on earth, but only that which signifies Allah’s speech; that He has said only what signifies Allah’s speech; that Allah’s speech, if expressed in Arabic, is the Quran, if expressed in Hebrew, is the Torah, and if expressed in Syriac, is the Gospel; that it is a single meaning admitting neither multiplicity nor division; and that the Lord does not speak by His will and power; and so on to