and an accident in a substance, so as to become an attribute of it. Nor is it present there as a body is present in the space to which it has moved from another space. Nor is it present there merely as a sign, like the world, which is a sign of the Maker. Rather, it belongs to another category, intelligible in its own right. Not everything that exists must have a counterpart matching it in every respect. By their innate disposition, people understand what it means for a speaker’s speech to be on a sheet of paper. They know that the speech subsisting in him has not separated from his being and come to dwell in something else. They also know that what is on the sheet is not merely a sign pointing directly to a meaning in his mind. Rather, what is on the sheet corresponds to his utterance, his utterance corresponds to his meaning, and his meaning corresponds to external reality.

What is in his mind may also be known through natural signs and voluntary movements that he did not intend to convey anything. Yet no one calls these the speaker’s speech in the same way as the speech heard from him. If speech were so called merely because it signifies something, every sign would share that designation. We shall discuss this, Allah willing.

If what is in a written copy of the Quran required reverence merely because it signifies something, every sign would require reverence. Indeed, that which points to the Maker and His attributes is greater than that which points to His speech, yet it does not possess the sanctity of a written copy of the Quran. As for indications of the meaning within a person’s mind, that meaning may sometimes become known without his choosing. It may become known through natural sounds, such as weeping; through movements not intended to convey anything; through movements intended to convey meaning, such as gestures; or through utterances intended to convey meaning.