Dawanī-Dashtakī Dispute on Divine Speech

The problem of divine speech, especially its nature, is one of the most challenging theological topics in the field of divine essence and attributes. Although the differences between philosophers and theologians are related to the temporal origination or the eternity of divine speech, it is the interpretation of its nature that is in the center of their disputes. Unlike many of the early scholars, Dawāni considers the divine speech to be the source of word making and different from divine knowledge. Dawāni’s view on divine speech has been criticized by the great philosopher of his age, Ghiyāth al-Dīn Dashtakī. Dashtakī’s critiques are not restricted to some specific part of Dawāni’s view, but he calls into question most of the consequences of Dawāni’s view on divine speech such as origin and potentiality, the presence of speech in the faculty of imagination, the irrelevance of the generality of the speech to that of knowledge, etc. In this article, after explaining Dawāni’s view in confrontation with the Ash’arī and Mutazilī idea, I will evaluate Dashtakī’s critiques of Dawāni.