The sixth (1) is the view of those who say: He has never ceased speaking whenever He wills, at whatever time He wills, and however He wills (2), with speech subsisting in Him; and He speaks [with it] in a voice (3) that is heard. The genus of speech is [beginningless (4)] and eternal, M, even though its proponent does not regard the particular voice itself (5) as eternal. This is what has been transmitted from the leading authorities of hadith and the sunnah. (6)

(* The seventh is the view of those who say: His speech is reducible to whatever arises of His knowledge and will and subsists in His essence.

Among these are some who say, “That has never ceased to occur in His essence,” as is held by Abū al-Barakāt, the author of al-Mutabar, and others; and some do not say this. [Abū Abd Allāh] al-Rāzī espouses this view (7) in works such as al-Matālib al-Āliya.

The eighth is the view of those who say: His speech conveys a meaning subsisting in His essence, while the speech itself is what He creates in another. Among these are some who adopt Ibn Kullāb’s position concerning that meaning; this is the view of Abū Mansūr al-Māturīdī (8). Others adopt the philosophers’ position; this is the view of a group of the heretical Bātinis, including the Shia-oriented and Sufi-oriented adherents among them.