The same conclusion follows when the doctrine of those who affirm indwelling and union, such as Ibn ‘Arabī, is carried to its logical end. He said:

“And every utterance in existence is His speech—
Its prose and verse are all the same to us.” (1)

For this reason, Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd al-Hāshimī (2) said: “Whoever claims that His words,

‘Indeed, I am Allah. There is no deity except Me, so worship Me’

[Surah Tā Hā: 14]

are created thereby makes this statement the same in kind as Pharaoh’s statement:

‘I am your lord, the Most High.’

[Surah al-Nāzi‘āt: 42]

For this is created and that is created.”

By this, he meant that such a claim necessarily makes the locus in which this statement was created the one that uttered it, just as Pharaoh was the one who uttered the statement that subsisted in him.

They said: “Their claim that speech is an attribute of action contains an equivocation.”

They are therefore asked: “Do you mean that it is a produced effect separate from the speaker, or do you mean that it subsists in him?” (3)

If you mean the former, it is false. No speaker has ever been known to speak words that necessarily exist apart from him. Likewise, the act must not subsist in the agent, as the Salaf and the majority held; it is only the effect produced that is distinct from him.