what the verbal noun denotes—namely, the act itself—for that cannot be heard. His saying,

“We relate to you the best of accounts,”

is of this kind: it means “We read to you the best of accounts” or “We recite to you the best of accounts,” as He Most High says:

“We recite to you in truth some of the account of Moses and Pharaoh.”

And He says:

“So when We have recited it”—Ibn ʿAbbās explained this as Gabriel’s recitation—“follow its recitation,”

meaning: listen to him until he has finished reciting.

The well-known grammatical analysis of His saying, “When you recite the Quran,” is that “the Quran” is in the accusative as the direct object. The same applies to “the best of accounts.” Yet both also carry the meaning of a verbal noun, as explained above. Thus, both the direct-object sense and the verbal-noun sense are present. Sometimes the verbal-noun sense predominates, as in His saying:

“It is for Us to gather it and to recite it.”

Here, what is intended is the very act denoted by the verbal noun. At other times, the other sense predominates, as in His saying:

“Listen to it and remain silent,”

and His saying:

“Say: If mankind and jinn gathered together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce its like,”

and His saying:

“Indeed, this Quran guides to that which is most upright.”

In most occurrences, the word “Quran” denotes the speech itself, not the act of uttering that speech, which is what the verbal noun denotes.

Such usage is common in language: two things are invariably or usually inseparable, so the same name is applied to both. Sometimes one sense predominates, and sometimes the other; the name may also refer to either one alone. Examples include “river,” “village,” “rainspout,” and similar terms involving something contained and its container. Thus, the name encompasses both the watercourse and the flowing water. Likewise, the word