It was a brisk walk alone towards school after I skipped home in-between classes. I crossed the road and quickly decided to avoid the common route of walking straight towards Nugget Tours. Instead, I turned left.
My foot on the pavement, a sweet boy of three-year-old (perhaps) all bulked up in his clean winter gear was tentatively riding his tricycle towards me. He looked up into my eyes and I saw that he was wobbling. He was cycling towards the sandy depression on the uneven pavement.
Picture not related. This is Usaid the cleanfreak boy
mopping dusty ARMA with his shirt.
Now, now, I slowed my pace as I neared him, my eyes on alert and my face grim in concentration. Be careful not to fall.
And sure enough, he fell on his knee. He gingerly touched his left kneecap and steadied his fallen bike with his right hand. He silently looked up and mounted right on.
I watched the boy from behind my shoulder as he continued paddling on the crooked pavement, not even a stifle could be heard.
Holding back tears. He was playing brave, I concluded.
Was it because of his gender that he decided against crying? Was it because of an unknown foreigner nearby that stalled him from calling for his mother? Was it the harsh upbringing Egyptians endured that made them steel from a young age?
Or was it simply me exaggerating everything, and the boy wasn't even going to cry in the first place?
What did I do during the whole time? Nothing. I didn't even pause, not even a concerned 'Are you okay?' spouted out, though words of consolation were already forming in my mind.
Let alone stopping to pick the boy up and help him to his parents. Instead, I continued my slow and short pace about him and scrutinized every details.
A few seconds walk away and I was graved with guilt.
---
Akhlak is simply, what you do spontaneously in any given occasion.
The money that you easily give away during a raise. The salam and smile you greet to the old man on the bridge. The scrap of paper you stow in your pocket instead of letting it join the dust of the hallway.
The every classes you attend sincerely regardless of attendance check. The news report that you hand in right on time. And every single amanah for that matter.
The hand you hold out for a fallen young boy.
Beloved Prophet Muhammad presented true virtues for us to follow. And I will dishonor myself the moment I go back on him.
I have a lot more to work on.
