The Qurʾān uses the fact that it was revealed in Arabic to argue that the Arabs who hear it have no excuse for not understanding: “We have sent it down as an Arabic Qurʾān so that you [people] may understand” (Q. 12/2). As Sībawayhi (d. 177/793?) puts it, “They were addressed in their own speech, and the Qurʾān came to conform to their language and what they understood” (Kitāb I, 331–332). Similarly, aš-Šāṭibī (d. 790/1388) states: “The Qurʾ…