agree that nothing can be moving without motion or speaking without speech. Likewise, nothing can will without will, know without knowledge, or possess power without power, and so forth. Moreover, these terms derived from verbal nouns apply only to subjects in which the meanings denoted by those verbal nouns inhere. Thus, only a subject in which life inheres is called living; only one in which motion inheres is called moving; only one in which knowledge inheres is called knowing; and only one in which power inheres is called powerful. A subject in which the meaning denoted by the verbal noun does not inhere cannot be described by the corresponding active participle or similar descriptive forms. This is evident from examining all analogous cases. For the active participle and similar derived forms have a composite meaning, denoting both the subject and its attribute; a composite cannot be realized unless its constituent elements are realized.

Just as this holds for derived nouns, it also holds for verbs, such as “spoke,” “addressed,” “speaks,” “addresses,” “knew,” “knows,” “heard,” “hears,” “saw,” “sees,” and the like. Whether one holds that the verb is derived from the verbal noun or that the verbal noun is derived from the verb, everyone agrees that the subject of the verb is the agent of the action denoted by the verbal noun. Thus, when one says “addressed,” “knew,” “spoke,” or “learned,” the agents of addressing and teaching are the one who addresses and the one who teaches, respectively. The same applies to learning and speaking. The agent is the subject in which the meaning of the verbal noun—addressing, teaching, speaking, or learning—inheres. Thus, when one says, “So-and-so spoke,” or “So-and-so addressed another person,” it is that person who speaks and addresses.

Thus, the words of Allah Most High:

“And Allah spoke to Moses