 it means the owner of the elephant when he came to destroy the kaaba. he says you were as numerous as the sand so why did you flee from him and none of you met him until he reached mecca? mecca is the mother of villages and the home of the arabs it is the arabian peninsula and mecca is one of its villages but since it was the oldest of them and the most dangerous it was given a mother. that is why the conquest of mecca was called the conquest of conquests. and in the same way the opening of the book was called the mother of the book. the arabs may make something the mother of what has not yet been born. from that they say he hit him on the mother of his head and likewise the mother of the abyss. and the guest calls the mistress of his house the mother of my abode.
فإنه يعنى صاحب الفيل حين أتى ليهدم الكعبة. يقول كنتم في عدد الرمل، فلم فررتم منه ولم يلقه أحد منكم حتى أفضى إلى مكة، ومكة أم القرى، ودار العرب، هي جزيرة العرب ومكة قرية من قراها، ولكن لما كانت أقدمها قدما، وأعظمها خطرا، جعلت لها أما. ولذلك قيل لفتح مكة فتح الفتوح. وعلى مثل ذلك سميت فاتحة الكتاب أم الكتاب والعرب قد تجعل الشىء أم ما لم يلد. من ذلك قولهم ضربه على أم رأسه، وكذلك أم الهاوية. والضيف يسمى ربة منزله أم مثواي.