It’s a phrase that my mother uses a lot. I used to wonder, “How in the world
can Mother call them beautiful?” I am a logical, statistical man. I call things
as I see them. I didn’t see beauty.
My mother would tell people this with an enthusiasm they could feel. She
was genuine. She wasn’t telling them they were beautiful to get something
from them. Most of the time, they were trying to get something from her.
I wondered for years what was wrong with Mother’s perception and vision.
Couldn’t she see that all of the people she called beautiful weren’t beautiful?
You were beautiful only if you had a certain figure and face that was classed as beautiful by the laws
of the world and glamour. Yet when my mother spoke, people smiled as though Glamour magazine
had listed them as one of the beautiful people of the year.
It took me years to finally understand my mother’s vision and the phrase, “Beauty is in the eye of
the beholder.” My mother had a spirit that could see the beauty in a person. Most only look on the
outside and then compare what they see with the standards the world has given them. That was
what I was doing. Today when you leave your house, carefully look at the first person whom you
see and notice how beautiful they are.
They may be balding, fat, wrinkled, pimply, or any of the other things the world frowns upon as
beauty. Look at them closely and look for the beauty. If you really look, you’ll see it.
I didn’t believe that at first until I tried it. Sure enough, as I stared and opened another set of eyes,
I was able to see the beauty in every person. No matter how rough or worn a person looked, each
pain etched line held a glimpse of beauty.
You just had to look for the beauty. It’s there. When you leave your home this morning, look hard
at each person. You will start to see the beauty of every human who you didn’t know existed. Trust
me and try this. If you sincerely look, you will see it. When you get home after seeing the beauty in
faces you see, look in the mirror. You are beautiful. Thank you mama for all of the beauty that you
have not only seen, but added. She used to tell me: “Be like a honey bee which always sits on
beautiful flowers.”
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said: “Indeed Allah is Beautiful and He loves beauty.” In other place
he (SAW) says: “A believer is beautiful because Allah has given him beautiful characters.”
Holy Quran emphasizes on remembering the beautiful things Allah (SWT) has created and praise
them profusely. “And as for the blessing of your Lord, do announce it.” (93:11)
Allah (SWT) Himself remembers and praises the good creations He has created; among them is His
beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW): “And He exalted your praise (O Muhammad).” (94:4)
“Indeed Allah and His Angels are sending blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send
blessings upon him (you as well) and salute him with a (becoming) salutation.” (33:56)
Dear readers, you are beautiful. May Allah’s beautiful blessings be upon you always.
YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!
100 Moral Stories 72
