Love That Showed Up on Time
C06 · 6–8
Rayyan and Husam were eight-year-old boys. Dad was a thirty-six-year-old man, and their teacher, Mr Hassan, was thirty-five. Their classmates were eight-year-old boys too.
Rayyan placed a clean sheet of paper on his desk and wrote three large words in the middle:
I love Allah.
He would share the poster at tomorrow’s class circle. Rayyan wanted it to be the finest poster in the room, so he chose blue for the title and green for the border. Then he began searching for his gold pen.
The star book rested on a nearby shelf beside the bag he had brought it in. Rayyan wanted to finish decorating before he stood up, but he had not prepared the book for its return. He cleared a small space on his desk and spread out the poster. The bag was still empty by the shelf.
At 4:45, the clock alarm chimed. A note Rayyan had typed that morning appeared on the screen:
Husam’s book — five o’clock.
Rayyan had borrowed Husam’s book about the stars. He had promised to return it at five because Husam needed its sky map for a school project.
“The border will only take five minutes,” Rayyan said.
He drew one line, rubbed it out, tried another colour, then changed his mind. By the time he found the gold pen beneath a notebook, the minute hand was moving close to five.
Rayyan looked at the large words on his poster. Then he looked at Husam’s book on the shelf.
He remembered something he had learned: a verse in the Qur’an connects loving Allah with following His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. Following was not only a word to say. It began with good actions a person already knew and could do.
Rayyan closed the colour box. He checked that the book’s pages were safe, then slipped it into a bag to protect it from the light rain outside.
“I promised Husam I would return his book at five,” he told Dad. “Can we go now?”
Dad came over and checked the time with him. Rayyan lifted the bag by its handle and kept it clear of the drawing materials so it would stay clean. They agreed to go straight to Husam’s house and return home afterwards to finish the poster. Rayyan stopped counting decoration minutes. The borrowed book was ready in his hand, and he knew his next step. He did not ask to change the time they had agreed, and he did not blame Husam for needing his own book.
They walked there together. When they arrived, Husam was setting his project notebook on the table.
“Here is your book, just as we agreed,” Rayyan said.
Husam opened the bag and found the book in good condition. “Thank you. I need the sky map for my project tonight.”
When Rayyan returned home, there was not enough time for the wide golden border he had imagined. Instead, he drew a small clock in one corner. Beneath it he wrote:
Love appears in following, and following begins with one good thing I know.
The next day, Mr Hassan studied the little clock.
“Why did you draw this?” he asked.
“I was writing about loving Allah,” Rayyan explained, “but I nearly delayed a promise while I decorated the words. I paused my decorating, took the book to Husam as I had promised, and finished the poster afterwards.”
“Good words matter,” Mr Hassan said. “Their truth becomes visible when they lead us to good action.”
Rayyan looked again at the little clock. It was not the brightest decoration in the room, but it carried the story of a real choice.