"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Kareem, delighted. "Allah has
created everything for the good of human beings!"
Grandpa Hassan agreed: "So, we have to think about all this
and thank our Lord that He has given us so many blessings. Allah
tells us in the Qur'an that we should give Him thanks: 'So they may
eat its fruits—they did not do it themselves. So will they not be
thankful?' (Surah Ya Sin: 35)"
Kareem's favorite subject was science. Suddenly, an experiment
they did in school came to his mind. He turned to his grandfather
and said: "Grandpa, we did an experiment in school one day.
Our teacher gave us some homework to do. We put a bean inside
a piece of cotton, put it in a sunny place and watered it for a
few days. Guess what happened!"
Grandpa Hassan smiled again: "The beans
sprouted, didn't they? Let's think about that. It
shows you a very basic natural occurrence;
which is actually a miracle. You've seen a rab-
bit being pulled out of an empty hat in magic
shows haven't you?; well, that is
rather similar to a plant sprouting
in a piece of cotton or under the
ground. In a magic show, how-
ever, our eyes are deceived, but a
plant coming out of a tiny seed
80
