is simply the wording, and what is intended by written letters is the spoken letters. This is why the term “letter” applies to both.
Thus, when one says, “the speech in the book,” it is understood that what is intended among the book’s contents is the speech, not anything else. Hence, this enjoys a distinctive sanctity not shared by things intended both to signify and to serve other purposes. And Allah knows best.
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Those who misrepresented the doctrine of the “affirmative Lafziyyah”—who say, “Our utterance of the Quran is uncreated,” and say that “recitation” is the thing recited and “writing” is the thing written—have reached the point where one of them maintains that the eternal sound is heard from the reciter. Their conception of the Quran extends no further than what they imagine concerning letters and sounds. They lead those who disagree with them to believe that the very sound heard from the servant is the very sound with which Allah spoke. They deny that the meanings of the truths expressed in the Quran are part of Allah’s speech, and do not include meaning within Allah’s speech.
The early generations used to say, “The Quran is Allah’s speech, uncreated,” and, “Whatever form the Quran takes, it is Allah’s speech, uncreated.” And the “innovating affirmative Lafziyyah,” whom Imam Ahmad and others condemned