ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr (may Allah be pleased with him) related that the Prophet ﷺ said: “On the Day of Resurrection the Qur’an will be manifested in the form of a man and will intercede for the one who accompanied it.”
Zuhayr ibn Ḥarb narrated this ḥadith to me; Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; his father narrated to us, from Ibn Isḥāq; ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr narrated to me, from his father, from his grandfather: “I heard the Prophet ﷺ say that.”
Abu ʿAbd Allah commented, “That intercession is the result of what a person acquires and does. Allah says, ‘So whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it’ (al-Zalzalah 99:7-8).
“Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim narrated, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, from Saʿṣaʿah—the uncle of the poet al-Farazdaq—who said: I came to the Prophet ﷺ and heard him reciting, ‘So whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it.’ I said, ‘That suffices me; I now know what good is and what evil is.’
“Ibn Masʿūd said, ‘Whenever we relate something to you, we bring you confirmation of it from the Book of Allah.’ Included in that is the recitation of the Qur’an and every other deed.
“Allah has clarified this to His creation, saying, ‘He who created death and life to test you as to which of you is best in deed’ (al-Mulk 67:2). Thus He informed us that deeds stem from life. He then explained His act of creation, saying, ‘Whether you conceal your speech or declare it openly, He surely knows what is within hearts. Does He who created not know, when He is the Subtle, the All-Aware?’ (al-Mulk 67:13-14).
“Despite this, the Jahmiyyah and the Muʿaṭṭilah dispute with the scholars, claiming, ‘Allah does not speak; and if He does speak, His speech is created.’ They therefore assert that the Qur’an recited—with Allah’s knowledge—is created, failing to differentiate between the devotional act of recitation and the words that are recited.
“Abu Bakr once raised his voice with the verse, ‘Will you kill a man…’ (Ghafir 40:28).”