SOMĀ, BHĀĪ, a native of Jhaṅg, now in Pakistan, was a devout Sikh of the time of Gurū Arjan. He laboured with devotion during the digging of the sacred pool at Amritsar. One day, as Gurū Arjan was supervising the work, a mendicant came to him for alms. The Gurū did not have at that moment a coin to offer and asked if any of the Sikhs would give him one. Bhāī Somā possessed only two pice which he offered to the Gurū, who gave them to the mendicant. "Bhāī Somā is now my shāh, or creditor," remarked the Gurū. From that day Bhāī Somā came to be known as Somā Shāh. Later, he became rich through business. His descendants were living until recent years in the district of Sāhīvāl, Ḍerā Ismā'īl Khān and Bannū, in West Punjab and North West Frontier Province. The epithet 'Shāh' is suffixed to their names up to this day.