And it is not for any human being, nor is it proper for anyone among humans, that Allah should speak to him except in three ways: either through revelation, which is inspiration and casting into the heart, or in a dream, as He revealed to the mother of Moses and to Ibrahim, peace be upon him, regarding the sacrifice of his son. And from Mujahid: Allah revealed the Psalms to Dawud, peace be upon him, in his heart.

Ubaid ibn al-Abrass said:

And Allah inspired me that they have conspired... with the camels of Abu Awfa, so I stood on a man. [That is, Allah inspired me and cast into my heart: that they conspired. And 'that' is a lightened form of 'that which is heavy', and its subject is the pronoun of the people or the state and matter. Abu Hayyan chose that it has no name when lightened, because it is neglected. And if 'inspired' is understood to mean 'said', then it is interpretative, meaning, they have conspired in the form of 'tatawa' (to consult), meaning: they consulted in the matter, or they gathered their affair. From it is 'y'atamiruna bika liyaqtuluka' (they conspire against you to kill you). So I stood in pursuit of them to return it to a man, meaning: I did not wait until I mounted. Or on a single man, meaning: quickly, so I do not place my feet together on the ground.]

That is: He inspired me and cast into my heart. Or by hearing His speech which He creates in some bodies, without the listener seeing who speaks to him, because He is, in His essence, unseen. [The saying 'because He is, in His essence, unseen' means: it is not permissible to see Him, and this is according to the Mu'tazila. As for the people of Sunnah, it is permissible as established in its place.]

And His saying 'from behind a veil' is like, for example, when a king speaks to some of his special ones from behind a veil, so he hears his voice but does not see his person. This is like when He spoke to Musa and speaks to the angels. Or He sends to him a messenger from the angels, and the angel reveals to him as He spoke to the prophets other than Musa. And it was said: revelation as He revealed to the messengers through the angels, or He sends a messenger, meaning a prophet, as He spoke to the nations of the prophets through their tongues. And revelation, and that He sends: are two sources that are in the position of the state, because 'that He sends' is in the meaning of sending. And 'from behind a veil' is also a circumstance that is in the position of the state, as in His saying 'and on their sides'. And the estimation is: and it is not proper for anyone to speak to anyone except by inspiring, or hearing from behind a veil, or sending. And it is permissible that 'revelation' is placed in the position of 'speech', because revelation is hidden speech in speed, as you say: I will not speak to him except openly or secretly, because openness and secrecy are two types of speech. And likewise 'sending': making the speech on the tongue of the messenger like speech without an intermediary. You say: I said to so-and-so such-and-such, and he only said it through your agent or your messenger. And His saying 'or from behind a veil' means: or hearing from behind a veil. And whoever made 'revelation' in the meaning of 'that it is revealed', and connected 'He sends' to it, in the meaning of 'and it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation', meaning: except that it is revealed. Or that He sends, then he must estimate His saying 'or from behind a veil' in an estimation that matches them, such as: or that he hears from behind a veil. And it was read: or He sends a messenger, so it is revealed in the nominative, on: or He sends. Or in the meaning of 'sent' as an addition to 'revelation' in the meaning of 'revealing'. And it has been narrated that the Jews said to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: Will you not speak to Allah and see Him if you are a prophet as Musa spoke to Him and saw Him? For we will not believe you until you do that. He said: Musa did not see Allah. [I did not find it.] So it was revealed. And from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her: Whoever claims that Muhammad saw his Lord has greatly lied against Allah. [Agreed upon, and a part of it has preceded in Al-An'am.] Then she said: Have you not heard your Lord say: Then she recited this verse. Indeed, He is Exalted above the attributes of created beings, Wise, conducting His actions according to wisdom, speaking sometimes through an intermediary, and other times without an intermediary: either by inspiration, or by address.