knows best what He sends down.” Thus, what Allah sent down is what the Holy Spirit brought down. He also says:

“And We certainly know that they say”—and the rest of the verse.

They claim that a human being teaches this Arabic Quran, as indicated by His words, “The tongue of the one to whom they allude,” and so forth. Thus, it is known that Muhammad did not compose its wording, but heard it from the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who brought it down from Allah; thus, it is known that he heard it from Him and did not compose it himself.

A similar passage is His statement:

“He is the One who has sent down to you the Book, explained in detail.”

“The Book” is a name for the Quran, as is necessarily known and universally agreed. For they—or some of them—distinguish between Allah’s Book and His speech. The word “book” may refer to what is written in it, in which case it is the speech itself; or it may refer to that in which something is written, as in His words:

“In a well-guarded Book,”

and His words:

“On the Day of Resurrection, We shall bring forth for him a book which he will find spread open.”

His statement, “They know that it has been sent down from your Lord in truth,” invokes their testimony. If anyone among us does not acknowledge this, they are better than he in this respect.

This does not contradict what has been reported from Ibn ‘Abbās and others: that it was sent down on the Night of Decree to Bayt al-‘Izzah (the House of Honour) in the lowest heaven. Nor does it contradict its being written in the Tablet before its descent, whether Allah wrote it before sending Gabriel with it or afterwards. Thus, if it was sent down in its entirety to the House of Honour, He had written all of it before sending it down. Allah knows what has been, what will be, and how what will not be would be if it were to occur. He wrote the decrees and the deeds of His servants before they performed them, then commands that they be recorded after they have performed them, and makes a comparison between