Ad: The Bracelet That Changed My Life

Hi everyone! How's everything going? To those who are fasting, how's Ramadan? :) Everyone and everything is well I hope! Today I would like to share a beautiful encounter that I had faced many years ago. Unfortunately I cannot remember some of the details, but that doesn't change the story in any way so it's alright. I know the title sounds dramatic, but it really did change my life :)

Some years ago, my family and I went to Egypt for a holiday while it was winter there. We were there for about ten days or so. I must've been around 14 years old then. We went on a cruise on the Nile river for several days and stopped many times to visit ancient Egyptian temples and other places for sight-seeing. Anyway, on one of those days, we arrived a little later than scheduled at one of the sight-seeing spots. Because it was winter, the sunset was rather early and it got dark quickly. We usually get back to our cruise ship before dark, so we were rushing to get back. Believe me, it was really, really dark lol. I honestly could not really tell where I was going and was trying hard not to lose sight of my family and the tour guide. While we were rushing, some children selling hand-made souvenirs followed us, asking us to buy whatever they were selling. I smiled and said to them what I usually said, "No it's ok, thanks". Most of them stopped following us but this one girl kept insisting that we buy bracelets from her. The bracelets each had a painted scarab beetle on it. She said, "Please, buy some". I said to her gently, "I'm really sorry, but I don't have any money", which was true. My parents did not let us hold any money back then.

The little girl asked, "You don't have any money?" I said, "No, sorry" and just smiled apologetically. Then, I thought like the rest of the children, she would just say "bye bye" and leave. Instead, she pulled one bracelet out from the bundle of bracelets that she was holding and said, "You take this" with the biggest smile on her face. I was completely shocked. I said "no no no no, I can't take it. I have nothing to give you". She shook her head and said, "take it. It's from me". I was so touched by this gesture, so overwhelmed by the kindness she showed me. I took the bracelet, held it tightly and said "Thank you so much. I won't forget this. I won't forget you". She just smiled before proceeding to ask where I was from. We didn't get to talk much because we had almost reached our ship. My heart was aching when we said goodbye. As I was going down the hill, I turned back to wave at her again and say goodbye. She was just standing there, a few feet away, still smiling and waving. I'm still so moved by the warmth and kindness she showed. The thing is, unfortunately the reason why these children were selling us tourists these hand-made souvenirs in the first place was because they mostly came from poor families. Selling these souvenirs help the family earn some extra income. So think, the little girl herself probably had little money, and the moment she knew I had none, she gave me something that she could've sold for money, without any hesitation! God bless her kind heart!

My beautiful bracelet

I'm really glad I still have it with me after all these years :)

This was one of my fondest memories of Egypt. This was one of my fondest memories ever. Sometimes I wonder what did I ever do to deserve meeting such a beautiful soul. I wish I got her name. I wish I can recall what she looked like. It was so dark though, I really couldn't make out her face. I do remember that she had dark, round eyes and of course, a beautiful smile. Alhamdulillah, fortunately I still have the bracelet that she gave me. I pray that one day, God-willing, I can meet her again :) I had already fallen in love with Egypt even before I met her, but meeting this little girl made me love it even more. I really hope I will get the chance to visit Egypt again some day, inshaAllah (God-willing) :) Wherever this little angel may be, I pray that she will always be happy, always be successful in whatever she pursues and always blessed. Let's remember to always, always give. "If we are not entitled to receive charity, then we are rich enough to give it"* :)

Hope you enjoyed this post. 'Til next time,
Ad

*Not sure where this quote is from, but if I'm not mistaken, I read it on @IslamicThinking's twitter