If anyone says that Allah did not speak the Arabic Quran, but that it is merely the speech of Gabriel or someone else, used to express the meaning subsisting in Allah’s essence—as Ibn Kullāb, al-Ashʿarī, and those who agree with them maintain—then this assertion is false in many respects.

For they say that it is a single meaning subsisting in His essence; that the meaning of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran is one and the same; and that it is neither multiple nor divisible. They say that if it is expressed in Arabic, it is the Quran; in Hebrew, it is the Torah; and in Syriac, it is the Gospel. Thus, they make the meaning of the Verse of the Throne, the Verse of Debt, “Say, ‘He is Allah, One,’” “May the hands of Abū Lahab perish,” the Torah, the Gospel, and other scriptures all one and the same. This position is invalid according to both reason and revelation. It was introduced by Ibn Kullāb; none of the early generations had preceded him in it.

If, however, the one who speaks of letters and sound means that the voices heard from the reciters and the ink in the written copies of the Quran are eternal and beginningless, then he has erred, introduced an innovation, and said something contrary to reason and revelation. For the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Beautify the Quran with your voices.”

He thus made clear that the voice is the reciter’s voice, while the speech is the Creator’s speech. As Allah Most High says:

“If any of the polytheists seeks your protection, grant him protection so that he may hear the speech of Allah.”

The Quran that Muslims recite is therefore Allah’s speech, not the speech of anyone else, just as Allah has stated. It is also reported in the Sunan collections from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh that “the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—would present himself to the people during the pilgrimage season, saying: