Friendship is something very precious, and so is forgiveness
By Fatima Khan
Salman and Parvez were very close friends. One day, they went to the beach for a stroll. In the course of their conversation, they began to quarrel. All of a sudden, Salman gave Parvez a tight slap on his face. Parvez was, of course, shocked at this, but instead of reacting in the same way, do you know what he did? He sat down on the sand and with his finger he wrote the following words: “Today, my best friend gave me a tight slap on my face.”
After this, both the boys continued walking, but they did not exchange a word. Both were upset about what had just happened. Suddenly, Salman lost his balance and fell into the water. A giant wave pulled him into the sea and he began to drown! Without a moment’s delay, Parvez leapt into the water and swam towards him. By God’s grace, he managed to help save Salman
Shortly after they got back to the beach, Parvez borrowed a chisel from a carpenter and on a big boulder he inscribed the following words: “Today, with God’s grace, I helped save my best friend’s life.”
Seeing this, Salman was very moved. At the same time, he was also very confused. He asked Parvez, “Why is it that when I slapped you, you wrote those words on the sand, and when you helped rescue me, you carved these words on stone?”
Parvez explained: “When you gave me a slap, I wrote what I did on sand because the wind and the waves of the sea will soon wash them away and the memory of this event will hopefully soon be forgotten. And when I helped save you, I wrote those words on the rock so that it remains there for a long time as a good memory of our friendship!”
Salman was very touched. His eyes were filled with tears and he gave his friend a tight hug!
Moral of the story: Friendship is something very precious, and so is forgiveness. When something negative happens between friends, write it on ‘sand’ so that the ‘wind’ and the ‘waves’ will erase it away soon and it is forgiven and forgotten. And whenever good, positive things happen, write it on ‘stone’ so that it can remain as pleasant memory between friends for a long, long time!
(The writer is a Class 10 student from Bhopal)
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