The Blind Boy
A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: “I am blind, please help.” There were only a few coins in the hat.
blind boy with signA busy man was walking by the building when he saw the boy. The man stopped, thinking for a moment. 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 on it. He put the sign back in such a way that everyone who walked by would be able to see the new words.
buskers hat with coins Soon the hat began to fill up quite quickly. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.
That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this 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.”
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Afterthought
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Do you think the first sign and the second sign were saying the same thing?
blind boy_s sign __ changedOf course both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people they were so blessed 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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