91 Preface إِنَّما أُمِرتُ أَن أَعبُدَ رَبَّ هٰذِهِ البَلدَةِ الَّذي حَرَّمَها وَلَهُ كُلُّ شَيءٍ ۖ وَأُمِرتُ أَن أَكونَ مِنَ المُسلِمينَYusuf AliFor me, I have been commanded to serve the Lord1 of this city, Him Who has sanctified it and to Whom (belong) all things: and I am commanded to be of those who bow in Islam to God’s Will,-The Lord of this City. This was spoken in Mecca, say about the 5th year before the Hijrat, when the Holy Prophet and his adherents were being persecuted as enemies to the cult of Mecca. So far from being against the true spirit of the Holy City of Mecca, it was actually in furtherance of that spirit, which had been overlaid by the idolatries and abominations of the Pagan Quraish. They are told that the new Teaching is from the Lord of Mecca itself, the One True God, Who had sanctified it in the time of Abraham. Lest they should think that it was a local or tribal or narrow cult, it is added that He is not only Lord of this city, but Lord of the Worlds, “to Whom belong all things”. It is a universal message: but how sad it would be if the Meccans, among whom it came first, were to reject it?