When faith comes free…

The best thing about life's lessons is that there are never any notifications advertising how they can change us for the better.

You will not be bombarded by spam e-mails or yellow flyers — slipped underneath your door or left on your car's windshield — promoting their many benefits. No telephone numbers to call. No special ‘limited offer only' courses to apply for.

Life is always ready to teach us a lesson — most often when we least expect it.

When I shop, I usually have two things on my mind — to land the best bargain and the most perfect fit. When I sell used stuff, I only have one thing on my mind — to get rid of clutter, at any cost.

During one such flea market-selling episode, I was most pressed for time and wished to return home with as few things as possible.

Among the many treasures that I no longer wished to treasure was a green plaque or tughra with a gold ‘Mohammad' written across it.

Initially, I had had no intention to sell the tughra, but a corner had chipped off and despite enquiring with three stores, I had failed to find a piece that could match the rest of the frame. The frame was made in such a manner that I could not replace it either.

I decided to display it among the other wares — just in case someone came up with a creative use for it. If not, I could always take it back home.

As the day progressed and sellers slowly started trickling out of the area, the tughra stood in its place, soaking in the sunshine, still bright gold with hope. Everything else that was on display found a buyer, but the tughra remained. Interested buyers would eventually force me to give it for free as it was ‘broken'.

At first, I refused — it was a beautiful piece and I didn't want it to be treated as trash. However, when no one was willing to put a price on it, I decided that I would give it for free to the next person who would show some respect and a genuine interest in it.

Youngster's interest

Just as I had decided that I had waited enough and was packing up to leave, a group of boys approached my table.

The youngest among them, his gold hair matching the sparkle in his eyes, enquired about the tughra.

Thinking that the heat must have got to me and that I was not hearing right, I asked him again whether it was really ‘the' green plaque that he wanted (after all why would an about 9-year-old be interested in something like a plaque when I had DVDs and video games on display too?)

He confirmed that it was indeed the tughra that he was interested in.

When I asked him to take it for free, he shook his head and softly said ‘la, la' or no before starting to dig into his pockets. He held out his palm with a few fils in it before asking me whether I would give him the tughra for a dirham.

Curious, I asked him why he wouldn't take it for free. Shyly, he said that he wanted to gift it to his mother and a dirham was all he had from his pocket money.

I insisted again that he take it for free, explaining that he was helping me do a good deed (honestly I was feeling guilty that a little boy recognised the tughra's value and I was willing to give it away.)

He took my hand and placed the change in it, took the tughra and began walking away, but not before saying ‘goodness, faith come free'.