“Do they not know that Allah knows what they conceal and what they disclose? Among them are unlettered people who know nothing of the Book except recitations, and they do nothing but conjecture. So woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say, ‘This is from Allah,’ in order to gain a small price thereby. Woe to them for what their hands have written, and woe to them for what they earn.” (77–79)

Allah Most High says: “Do they not know that Allah knows what they conceal”—what they hide—“and what they disclose”—what they make manifest? This refers to the Jews.

His saying, “Among them are unlettered people,” means that among the Jews are unlettered people who cannot read or write. It is the plural of ummī, a term derived from “mother,” as though such a person remains as he was when he left his mother, having learned neither writing nor reading.

It has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that he said, “We are an unlettered community: we neither write nor calculate.” (1) (2) It is also said that the term is derived from Umm al-Qurā, namely Mecca.

“Who know nothing of the Book except recitations.” Abū Jaʿfar recited amāniya, with a lightened yāʾ, throughout the Quran, omitting one of the two yāʾs as a simplification. The common recitation has a doubled yāʾ. It is the plural of umniyyah, meaning recitation. Allah Most High says: “Except when he recited, Satan cast into his recitation” (22:52)—that is, into his recitation. Abū ʿUbaydah said: “[They know] only its recitation