ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us; ʿAqīl, and likewise Yūnus, narrated from al-Zuhrī, who said: ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUtbah informed me that ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās — may Allah be pleased with them both — informed him that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent a man with a letter to Kisrā. He instructed him to hand it to the chief of Bahrain, who would in turn deliver it to Kisrā. When Kisrā read it, he tore it up. I think Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib added: “So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ invoked against them, praying that they be torn utterly to pieces.” ⦗104⦘

ʿAbd Allah ibn Yūsuf narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to me, from ʿAqīl, from Ibn Shihāb, with this same report.

Yahyā ibn Bukayr narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from Yūnus, from Ibn Shihāb, who said: ʿUbayd Allah informed me that Ibn ʿAbbās — may Allah be pleased with them both — informed him that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dispatched his letter to Kisrā, in like manner.

Yaʿqūb ibn Ḥumaid narrated to us; Ibrāhīm narrated, from Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn Shihāb, from ʿUbayd Allah, that Ibn ʿAbbās — may Allah be pleased with them both — informed him that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent a letter to Kisrā in similar terms.

Abū ʿAbd Allah said: Ibn Shihāb’s nephew also transmitted it in similar form.

Imām Abū ʿAbd Allah — may Allah have mercy on him — then said:

If someone argues, “It has been reported that the superiority of Allah’s speech over all other speech is like the superiority of Allah over His creation,” we reply: Even if this narration were authentic, it offers you no proof, because it says “Allah’s speech,” not “the words of His servants” among the believers, hypocrites, or People of the Scripture who recite: “In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Especially Merciful” (al-Fātiḥah 1:1). It is perfectly evident to anyone with the least understanding that the act of recitation is distinct from the text recited, and that the speech of sinners or others has no such pre-eminence over other human speech comparable to the pre-eminence of the Creator over the created. Exalted, blessed, mighty, and majestic is our Lord, far above the attributes of created beings.

Should someone say, “But it is reported from the Prophet ﷺ: ‘You will never return to Allah with anything better than that which came forth from Him,’” we answer: Is not the Qur’an something that came forth from Him? Yet its manner of emerging from Him is not like its emerging from you—if you but understand. Moreover, this report is unsound because its chain is broken and disconnected.

If he then says, “If what the worshipper utters is not itself Qur’an, his prayer is invalid,” we reply: The Prophet ﷺ said, “There is no prayer without recitation.” And Abū al-Dardāʾ — may Allah be pleased with him — narrated that the Prophet ﷺ was asked, “In every prayer must there be recitation?” He answered, “Yes.”

Imām Abū ʿAbd Allah concluded: “Recitation (qirāʾah) is the act of tilāwah, and the tilāwah is not the same as the revealed text (al-matlū).”