The Divine Archetype

Understanding the position of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah on the Qur'an needs an open mind. Again, this is one of those complex places that need to be understood only because of the problems that were created. This was not something necessarily clarified in this way during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), because there was no requirement. They said the kalām of Allah; they understood Allah's (swt) kalām to be eternal, and so on and so forth.

We say, and we insist, we assert, that the kalām of Allah is eternal: the Qur'an is the kalām of Allah; the Torah is the kalām of Allah, meaning the original version; the Zabūr, the Psalms, is also the speech of Allah (swt). So how is that the speech of Allah, when we have created versions in front of us? A copy of the Qur'an, such as the copies we have, or a typed-up version, or somebody reading the Qur'an: that is obviously created. It did not exist before; then somebody brought it into existence, meaning it was manufactured, it was produced, it was printed. So how can that be eternal? And we say at the same time that the Qur'an is eternal. So this is what has to be understood.

There is a special relationship between a copy of the Qur'an, or what we articulate as the wording of the Qur'an, or what we memorise, and the speech of Allah (swt). The speech of Allah (swt) that He has, that He possesses, which can be considered the divine archetype of what we have, is eternal. That is what is called al-kalām al-nafsī: His personal, eternal speech.

One way to understand this is that before we say something, or before we do something, a thought occurs in our mind. We don't necessarily articulate it. Many thoughts rise in our minds that we don't articulate. We think about whether we want to articulate them or not, unless somebody just says everything without thinking; but this is about normal people. When we think about something, we then think about whether we should articulate it or not. So it is a thought; it is an abstract; it is not physical.

Again, that is just a very basic example, to try to understand the distinction between what kalām nafsī is and what kalām lafẓī is. What we have is the kalām lafẓī, which is the articulated kalām, the created speech. What Allah (swt) possesses in its original form, which has been there from pre-eternity, is eternal. It is the divine archetype, and it is without sounds, words, or whatever.

What He did was to have a portion of His speech revealed into the Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ, and onto the Prophet (peace be upon him), through the angel Jibrīl, in Arabic; and that was the Qur'an. That became the created version of the Qur'an, which reflects His divine archetype. That is the relationship.