LessonsThe Uncreated Qur’an: Divine Speech, Wording, Meaning and AttributionQuiz

النَّارُ جَوْهَرٌ مُضِيءٌ مُحْرِقٌ
Fire is something luminous and burning.

Writing “fire” on paper does not set the paper alight, and pronouncing the word does not make the speaker’s tongue hot. A name or sign need not share the properties of the thing named or signified.

Likewise, material ink and paper do not become eternal when they carry Qur’anic verses. But the analogy has limits: fire is a physical object, whereas divine speech is treated as a nonbodily attribute. The example explains signification, not an identity of kinds of existence.

Opening interactive controls...

The fire analogy: a word does not inherit its referent’s properties

The Uncreated Qur’an: Divine Speech, Wording, Meaning and Attribution

النَّارُ جَوْهَرٌ مُضِيءٌ مُحْرِقٌ
Fire is something luminous and burning.

Writing “fire” on paper does not set the paper alight, and pronouncing the word does not make the speaker’s tongue hot. A name or sign need not share the properties of the thing named or signified.

Likewise, material ink and paper do not become eternal when they carry Qur’anic verses. But the analogy has limits: fire is a physical object, whereas divine speech is treated as a nonbodily attribute. The example explains signification, not an identity of kinds of existence.