 It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Koran as Ibn ‘Arabî’s source of inspiration (Chodkiewicz 1993a). Far more than either the theologians or the philosophers, he dedicated his efforts to absorbing God’s word and being absorbed by it, and his writings are suffused with quotations and terminology from the text. As the divine speech (kalâm), the Koran is understood as nonmanifest and indistinct from the Divine Essence, though it becomes manifest in recitation and writing. God’s speech reveals itself not only in scripture, but also in the universe and the soul. The homologies among cosmos, soul, and scripture follow easily on the Koran’s imagery. In several verses it speaks of God’s creative act as his command “Be!”, and it alludes to the individual creatures as his words (kalimât). The identity of speech and creativity is also seen in the Koran’s frequent use of the term “sign” (âya) to designate the phenomena of the universe, the interior events of the soul, and its own verses. In effect, when God speaks—and he speaks because the Infinite Real cannot but display its qualities and characteristics—he voices three books, each of which is made up of signs/verses. As Ibn ‘Arabî says of the cosmos, “It is all letters, words, chapters, and verses, so it is the Great Koran” (Ibn ‘Arabî, al-Futûhât, 1911 edition, 4:167.22).