107وَما أَرسَلناكَ إِلّا رَحمَةً لِلعالَمينَMuhammad AsadAnd [thus, O Prophet,] We have sent thee as [an evidence of Our] grace towards all the worlds.1I.e., towards all mankind. For an elucidation of this fundamental principle underlying the message of the Qur'an, see 7: 158 and the corresponding note 126. The universality of the Qur'anic revelation arises from three factors: firstly, its appeal to all mankind irrespective of descent, race or cultural environment; secondly, the fact that it appeals exclusively to man's reason and, hence, does not postulate any dogma that could be accepted on the basis of blind faith alone; and, finally, the fact that - contrary to all other sacred scriptures known to history - the Qur'an has remained entirely unchanged in its wording ever since its revelation fourteen centuries ago and will, because it is so widely recorded, forever remain so in accordance with the divine promise, "it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption]" (cf. 15:9 and the corresponding note 10). It is by virtue of these three factors that the Qur'an represents the final stage of all divine revelation, and that the Prophet through whom it has been conveyed to mankind is stated to have been the last (in Qur'anic terminology, "the seal") of all prophets (cf. 33:40).