of the ten is other than the ten, and so forth. The word “other” may also mean that which is not identical to something else. In this sense, an attribute is other than the one it describes. Yet, on this understanding, it does not follow that whatever is other than Allah’s essence, endowed with His attributes, is created. His attributes are not His essence, but they subsist in His essence. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, is the sacred essence endowed with His perfect attributes. The name does not designate an essence without attributes; indeed, an essence without attributes cannot exist.

The correct approach in such matters is to say: speech is an attribute of the speaker, and an utterance is an attribute of the one who utters it. Allah’s speech is not separate from Him. Rather, He caused Gabriel to hear it, and Gabriel brought it down to Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as the Most High says:

“Those to whom We have given the Scripture know that it has been sent down from your Lord in truth.”

It is not permissible to say that Allah’s speech departed from His essence and passed to someone else. Rather, we say, as the early generations said: it is Allah’s speech, uncreated; from Him it originated, and to Him it will return.

Their statement, “From Him it originated,” refutes those who say that it was created within some physical body and originated from that created thing. They thus made clear that Allah is the One who spoke it: “From Him it originated,” not from any created being. “And to Him it will return” means that not a single verse of it will remain in people’s hearts, nor a single letter in the written copies of the Quran.

As for the Quran, it is Allah’s speech. Whoever says that the Quran, which is Allah’s speech, is other than Allah commits the same error and creates the same confusion as someone who says that speech is other than the speaker. The same applies to anyone who says that the speech of