held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only
a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped
them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote
some words. Heput the sign back so that everyone who walked by would
see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to
the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changedthe sign came to
see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were
you the one who changed my signthis morning? What did you write?"
The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a
different way."
What he had written was:"Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it."
Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?
Of course both signs told people the boy was blind. But the first sign
simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were
so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the
second sign was more effective?
"It is He, Who has created for you (the sense of) hearing (ears),
sight (eyes),and hearts (understanding). Little thanks you give."
[surah Al-Mu'minun; 78]
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