Allah.

Another group said: “This is Allah’s speech heard from Allah,” making no distinction between the two situations. Some of them even claimed that the audible voice is eternal, whereas the former group did not regard it as Allah’s speech at all, but as human speech.

Thus, the former say, “This is not Allah’s speech,” while the latter say, “This audible voice is eternal.” Both statements are erroneous and misguided.

Rather, it is His speech with the qualification that it is conveyed through the reciter. It is not His speech and His attribute without qualification, as heard directly from Him. A speaker’s speech is attributed to him without qualification when heard directly from him, and with qualification when heard from someone conveying it on his behalf. Likewise, seeing someone is described without qualification when he is seen directly, but with qualification when he is seen in water or a mirror.

As for the questioner’s words:

“When it subsists in us, has it passed from Allah after subsisting in Him, or does it subsist in us and in Him simultaneously? Or is what subsists in us an expression of Allah’s speech or a representation of it, so that calling it Allah’s speech is figurative?”

The answer is:

An attribute of a created being does not leave his essence, pass from him and subsist in another. How, then, can it be said that an attribute of the Lord—glory be to Him—has left His Essence, passed from Him and subsisted in another?

We have already explained that when one of us sends someone else with a message, that speech is what subsisted in the original speaker; it has not left his essence and passed to another. This applies all the more to Allah’s speech. Rather, His speech—glory be to Him—subsists in Him just as it would if He spoke it without sending a messenger with it. His sending a messenger with it serves to convey it to creation. And sending it down to them