16 Preface أَمِ اتَّخَذَ مِمّا يَخلُقُ بَناتٍ وَأَصفاكُم بِالبَنينَYusuf AliWhat! has He taken1 daughters out of what He himself creates, and granted to you sons for choice?To imagine goddesses (female gods) or mothers or daughters to God was particularly blasphemous in the mouths of people who held the female sex in contempt. Such were the pagan Arabs, and such (it is to be feared) are some of the moderns. They wince when a daughter is born to them and hanker after sons. With that mentality, how can they attribute daughters to God?