well-protected.” And He, exalted is He, said:

“Rather, it is a glorious Quran, in a Preserved Tablet.”

And He said:

“Reciting purified pages containing upright writings.”

And He said:

“No indeed! It is a reminder—so whoever wills may take heed of it—in honored pages, exalted and purified.”

And He said:

“Even if We had sent down to you a book on a sheet of paper.”

It may be said that it is written in them, just as one may say without qualification that it is in them, as He, exalted is He, said:

“By the Mount, and a Book inscribed on parchment unrolled.”

As for the Lord, glorified is He, His Messenger, or any other entity, only the name appears in the scriptures, and that name is speech. Hence He said:

“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written of in the Torah and the Gospel in their possession.”

What is in the Torah is merely the written record of him, his mention, description, and name. This is the “fourth level” of his existence. How, then, can the Quran or speech being in scriptures or on paper be likened to Allah, His Messenger, the sky, or the earth being in scriptures or on paper? If someone were to say, “Allah or His Messenger is in the scriptures or on paper,” that would be rejected unless accompanied by contextual indications clarifying the intended meaning, as in His saying:

“Everything they did is in the records.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, it is in the scriptures of the former peoples.”

What is meant is its mention and written record. Zubur is the plural of zabūr. Zabūr follows the pattern faʿūl with the meaning of mafʿūl—that is, mazbūr, meaning “written.” Thus, the word zabūr denotes writing. This is like what appears in the well-known hadith reported by Maysara al-Fajr, who said: “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah,