and His saying, exalted is He:

“By a Book inscribed on parchment unrolled.”

For deeds are in the records just as the Messenger and the Quran are in the scriptures of the former peoples. As for “the Book inscribed on parchment unrolled,” this is like speech itself being written on a sheet. How different the two are!

This is because everything has “four levels” of existence: existence in external reality, existence in minds, existence in speech, and existence in writing—that is, concrete, cognitive, verbal, and written existence.

For this reason, the first words Allah revealed of the Quran were:

“Read in the name of your Lord who created.”

In this passage, He mentioned that He, glorified is He, bestows both forms of existence. He said:

“Read in the name of your Lord who created—created man from a clinging clot.”

This is existence in external reality. Then He said:

“Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous, who taught by the pen—taught man what he did not know.”

Thus, He mentioned that He bestowed cognitive, mental existence. He mentioned teaching by the pen because it necessarily entails teaching words and expression, and teaching words and expression necessarily entails teaching meaning. By mentioning the last level, He thus indicated the first. Had He mentioned the first level alone, or spoken simply of teaching, that would not have indicated universality and comprehensiveness.

Since this is so, the Quran is speech, and speech occupies “the third level”; there is no other level intervening between it and the paper. Rather, speech itself is recorded in the book, as Allah, exalted is He, said:

“Indeed, it is a noble Quran, in a Book