~not many people can see the beauty in them. In fact everything there is in life is beautiful. We just need to know how to see things.
Let’s take a pencil for example… How do you see a pencil? This is what I think when I see a pencil. (Most of the time)
1) What it’s used for?
Writing.. with writing comes reading which according to Islam is the foundation of all knowledge. (Remember Iqra’?)
2) How it was made?
Apparently some wood, and carbon. which I read somewhere, that carbon is one of the most basic element found in everything. hm the pencil and I may be not that different after all
3) What will its future be like?
It will get shorter and shorter.. and when it’s no more useful, it will be thrown away. Suddenly I remember the autobiography essay written in Primary School. “Saya Sebatang Pensel”. I’m sure you too must have written the essay.
Life is also like that, it will not get any longer, and with time… it will be end. When the pencil are thrown away, nobody remembers it.
4) Why is it straight?
Only the pencil makers knows exactly why, but we can only assume that straight pencil will be easier to use. The same goes to our life.. Only our creator knows our true purpose, and the reason we are what we are. The pencil will never know its purpose if he asked me, since I am not its maker.
5) What inspire the first pencil maker to make pencils?
Maybe first they used charcoal, and when it is too hot, they wrap it with leaves and wood. I don’t know. but it is always inspiring knowing how people were inspired.
I can write endlessly, (near endlessly) about pencils. And what other things we can relate to it. This is in my opinion, the best way to view things. Not just by looking at the pencil and only saying, “that is a pencil”.
We need to go beyond our sight, and see the beauty of the pencil. And if you notice, almost everytime, it will come back to Allah, our creator. Which is exactly why, He said “To know Allah is to study His creation”
