Sarah was a very brilliant student of her class. She always secured the first position in academics and extra-curricular activities. It was no wonder that she was always liked and praised by her teachers for her intelligence.

However, with time all these accomplishments and praise made Sarah an arrogant person. Her mother noticed her changing attitude so she would tell her to change before it was too late for her otherwise she would be left alone without any real friends. But Sarah ignored whatever her mother said. She considered her mother as an old-fashioned lady with old concepts.

Around that time, Sarah was practicing very hard for an upcoming basketball match in her school. She was good in sports and was the star player of the basketball team of her school.

One day, Sarah’s classmate Maheen asked Sarah to explain to her an algebraic problem but Sarah waved her away saying, “Common, it is so simple, you can do it yourself, I don’t have time for it; I have to practice for my match,”

Poor Maheen silently walked away, wondering why did she ask Sarah for help when she is usually so rude. Afterwards, when Sarah was practicing basketball, one of her team members asked her to show her how to shoot but Sarah replied rudely, “Yeah sure! So you can snatch the Star Shooter award from me. Wow, what a nice way to trick me; well the answer to your question is ‘No’!”

These were not the only incidents which made Sarah the most disliked person among her class or teammates but there were many other instances when Sarah showed her mean attitude. The day before her match, Sarah was very excited. Her mother kept telling her to pray to God for her victory but Sarah said the victory was already hers so there was no need to worry.

That night, Sarah was too excited, she was thinking about the medal she was supposedly going to have the next day, when her mum called her for the dinner. She came hurriedly down the stairs while humming her favourite song. Just then, she slipped and fell all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. The fall was so bad that one of her arms just bent under her own body. She was rushed to the hospital where the doctor reported that Sarah had fractured wrist and informed that it will take six weeks to take off the plaster from her arm.

“But what about my match?” Sarah asked in tears.

“My dear, forget about the match! The injury could have been worst and it could have taken longer for you to recover,” said the doctor and left the room.

Sarah wept hysterically.

“Look dear, there are times when things go perfectly and you don’t realise that anything bad can ever happen to you. But just as good times don’t stay forever, the bad ones too end and you will soon recover. It is just a matter of six weeks. Come on, you are a strong person,” her mother comforted her.

“Perhaps this is the best time for you to think about yourself, your arrogance with others, how you never helped your classmates in anything. You should realise that you are like everyone else, an ordinary person who is not infallible, as you have considered yourself to be all this time. You are intelligent and talented, you should use your mind and skills not just for your own benefit but to help others too. Remember, only Almighty Allah is Supreme,” her mother said.

Sarah was quiet now as she was recalling her attitude to everyone. She felt so small and thought how rude and snobbish she had been for the gifts and talents that God had bestowed her with. She realised her mistakes and as soon as she recovered, she apologised to everybody for her earlier rude behaviour.

Published in Dawn, Young World April 1st, 2017