VERSE NO. 157

      This verse is a complementary to the last one, in which three of the qualifications of those who will have God's Mercy on them is mentioned namely:

      1- Those who are pious.

      2- Those who pay the alms- tax.

      3- Those who believe in the signs of God.

      The verse No. 157 is the continuation of the previous one, and so, four other qualifications are added to the above attributes to make it seven all together:

      4- Those who follow the unlettered prophet.

      5- Those who respect and honour the said prophet.

      6- Those who help him.

      7- And those who follow the light (i.e. THE GLORIOUS QURAN) sent down to him.

      The Arabic word, ``OMMI'' the root word of which is OMM=MOTHER, translated here to, ``UNLETTERED'' has a threefold meaning as follows:

      1- Mecca is said to have been the mother of the towns by QURAN. Therefore, any one whose home town was or is in Mecca, may be called an OMMI, and Mohammad was born there.

      2- ``OMMI'', means illiterate, unlearned, untutored, or uninstructed. Therefore, Mohammad S.A. who did not learn reading and writing, just like a newly born from his mother, was an OMMI.

      3- One who has been raised up from among the common people, is also called anOMMI by the Arabs, and Mohammad was so.