essence and an attribute of action.

Here, however, action does not mean creation. Rather, as Imam Ahmad said:

“Making is of two kinds: making that is creation and making that is not creation.”

All of this entails that acts subsist in His essence and fall into two categories: transitive acts, such as creation, and intransitive acts, such as speaking and descending. The early generations affirm both this kind and the other.

As for making the Quran Arabic, although this is transitive in Arabic grammar, in the sense that it takes an object in the accusative, in the case of speech the act—“speaking”—is connected to its object—“speech”—and both subsist in the speaker. Thus, the object may refer to the act denoted by a verbal noun. When you say qāla qawlan hasanan (“he spoke fine words”), qawl (“saying”) may refer solely to the act of saying, or solely to the speech itself, in which case it is the object. It may also refer to both together, in which case it is both a direct object and a verbal noun.

Likewise, “Quran” is originally a verbal noun, as in qara'a qur'ānan (“he recited a recitation”), denoting the act and movement. The speech recited was then called “Quran.” Concerning the first meaning, Allah Most High said:

“Indeed, upon Us is its collection and its recitation.”

“So when We have recited it, follow its recitation.”

Concerning the second, He said:

“Indeed, this Quran”.

This has been discussed at length elsewhere, and it has been explained that recitation and reading, in