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

In Arabic recitation, the words of بِسْمِ اللَّهِ are spoken in an ordered sequence; one letter is pronounced after another. That order belongs to pronunciation and reading, both temporal activities.

Does eternal inner speech therefore have the same before-and-after arrangement? The reply distinguishes the sequence of utterance from the subsistence of the divine attribute. The problem arises when an eternal attribute is identified with a succession of generated sounds.

Some classical philosophical explanations employ mental forms of words and their sequential manifestation. They should be treated as conceptual models, not verified physical descriptions of the divine attribute.

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Sequential words and a nontemporal attribute

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

In Arabic recitation, the words of بِسْمِ اللَّهِ are spoken in an ordered sequence; one letter is pronounced after another. That order belongs to pronunciation and reading, both temporal activities.

Does eternal inner speech therefore have the same before-and-after arrangement? The reply distinguishes the sequence of utterance from the subsistence of the divine attribute. The problem arises when an eternal attribute is identified with a succession of generated sounds.

Some classical philosophical explanations employ mental forms of words and their sequential manifestation. They should be treated as conceptual models, not verified physical descriptions of the divine attribute.