remembrance and supplication—such as saying “In the name of Allah” when beginning an action, or “Praise be to Allah” when eating, and the like—is not thereby reciting the Quran, and may do so while in a state of major ritual impurity. Hence the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The best speech after the Quran consists of four phrases, which are themselves from the Quran: Glory be to Allah; praise be to Allah; none has the right to be worshipped except Allah; and Allah is the Greatest.”

Narrated by Muslim. He thus described them as the best speech after the Quran and stated that they are from the Quran. They are indeed from the Quran, yet someone who says them by way of remembrance is not thereby reciting the Quran.

In this case, however, the words may be attributed to the original speaker even if the second speaker does not intend to convey his words, because the first speaker originally brought the utterance into being, while the second spoke it in imitation. Thus, if a man adopts the poet’s saying, even without intending to convey his poetry:

“Behold, everything apart from Allah is vain,”

he is told, “These are Labīd’s words.” Yet the second speaker may intend only to say this on his own behalf because he believes its meaning to be true.

This is the basis of the scholars’ disagreement concerning the “letters of the alphabet,” the “names” revealed in the Quran, and “words” in the Quran when someone uses them without intending to recite the Quran. Should they be described as uncreated because they are from the Quran? Or should it be said that, if he does not intend them as the Quran and the speech of Allah, they are not part of Allah’s speech and would therefore be