In Distress

Since my childhood, I have always preferred my own bed over anything. Whenever I would go on vacation to my grandparents' houses or anywhere else, no matter how much I enjoyed there from dawn to dusk, the satisfaction of returning home and lying on my bed was something incomparable. Even now, I can't imagine any other comfortable place to sleep, no matter how expensive or comforting mattresses you are offering, I get peace only on my own bed.

12:30 AM, I was returning home, it was midnight so everything was closed already. No rush of people. From the vehicle, suddenly a boy caught my eye. Outside a supershop, he has placed a cloth on the floor and is trying to sleep there, maybe with a pillow or something else. I saw him arranging things, I mean, I saw a bag, one or two books, and a bedsheet. He is different from the other people whom we usually see sleeping in streets or railway stations. He is well dressed, in good clothes, and not in any dirty, torn, or worn-out clothes. He has books that represent that he is educated, and must be a student.

📸 Jon Tyson

He picked the balcony in front of the closed supershop which has a bright LED light above him. I don't know why he picked this place, will he be able to sleep beneath this light that will be on throughout the whole night? Or his main focus is to read books in this light? He and the Almighty know it better. Seeing his appearance, I am damn sure he is a lonely soul, out of home for some reason, and don't wanna part ways from studying. I could be wrong, there might be other reasons for sure, but this one seems to be the most justifiable one.

Here I am, laying in a comfortable bed, under the fan that is spinning 24/7, readymade foods, and whatnot? Still, thousands of excuses for going downward.

Yesterday, I saw another incident that struck me. Someone lost their child, he has been lost for almost 2 or 3 days, no news of him. Surely they made a complaint to the police station. What else are they doing? It could be the mother and other women, wearing a burkha, Islamic clothes that the women use to cover themselves from top to bottom, walking road to road in search of their kids. Showing people his photos, pleading with them to post the lost news along with the photo on their social media profiles for more reach. I mean, it’s been three days, and they are still walking on the roads with the hope that they will find their son, every day they are asking people to spread the news online. I have seen the news of that boy multiple times on social media, many are trying to help for the sake of humanity. Only Allah knows what's written on the boy's fate, where is he, and how's he doing, may Allah help him.

Lots of people are in various distress. We do have some as well. But when we do see others in thousands of more hard situations, ours feels like nothing compared to them. I am just being grateful to the Almighty for not throwing me into such terrible situations beyond my ability, and praying for those distressed souls for some peace. Surely, the Almighty Allah is the best planner.