3 Preface وَوالِدٍ وَما وَلَدَYusuf AliAnd (the mystic ties of) Parent and Child;—1A parent loves a child ordinarily: the father is proud and the mother, in spite of her birth pains, experiences supreme joy when the child is born. But in abnormal circumstances there may be misunderstandings, even hatred between parent and child. So Mecca cast out her most glorious son, but it was only for a time. Mecca was sound at heart; only her power had been usurped by an ignorant autocracy which passed away, and Mecca was to receive back her glory at the hands of the son whom she had rejected but whom she welcomed back later. And Mecca retains for all time her sacred character as the centre of Islam.