Written in Stone | ✔︎

𝓞𝓱, 𝓐𝓷𝓰𝓾𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓮𝓭 𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓵

"What do you mean there are stones in the woods from where you read stories?"

"Not stories, Alayna," Nageen sighed, drawing up a chair in the school cafeteria. "Poems. I read poems."

"Yeah?" Alayna's brows shot up as she held her sloppy sandwich in hand, "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean... there are tablet stones in Dhulumaat Woods and there's actual writing on those stones."

"I don't believe you," Alayna rolled her eyes. "Sounds like some nonsense you picked up from Brave."

Nageen blinked. "Brave?"

"Yeah... you know, Merida- sneaking into the woods and finding some grand old witch and whatnot," Alayna mused.

"Oh, but I'm not talking of some grand old witch, Alayna. I'm talking about actual writing... my Nana's seen them too from his childhood. He's told me about it loads of times- it's actually real!"

When Alayna could not bring herself to submit to Nageen's 'nonsense', Nageen's cheeks flushed deep red and she thud back on her chair. Her sandwich laid forgotten.

"I'll show it to you."

Alayna raised her head. "What?"

"After school," Nageen nodded. "I'll show it you and then you'll see."

_________

"How can such writing be preserved for so many centuries?"

"I don't know..." Nageen whispered, sitting by the river bank and watching as Alayna moved around the mossy tablets. Her friend's hazel eyes skimmed over the writings, as her hands began to shiver and she took her seat beside Nageen.

The two girls stared from afar at the writings and the whole crown of tablets within their midst. The feathery wind whispered in the air, the sky crawled with gray clouds.

"But look? Whoever wrote it back then..." Nageen drew circles on the cold stone beside her, "Really wrote it for a reason."

"Hmm," Alayna nodded her head, still shivering with thought. She pulled up her legs to chest and rested her chin on her knees. Hazelnut eyes having cracked, she began to ponder.

"A reason..."

"A reason for us to believe in," Nageen said softly. Her eyes raised to the sky, "And I believe Allah really has blessed us, Alayna."

"Why?"

"Because some of these tablets are broken, and dirty with moss. And imagine if everyone had to find a special place, or a secret hideaway or some miraculous wonderland just to be told that there's a Creator, there's a purpose in life, there's a world beyond our vision that we're one day going to open up our eyes to... when really, all we need is the Quran. We don't have to look far and wide to find some 'magic' to happen. We just need the truth."

"Yeah... I guess you're right," Alayna muttered, throwing a pebble over the river waters. "We're blessed."

"Alhumdullilah," Nageen stared off at the tablets. Her head tilting.

Not everyone can access you,

But the Word of our Rabb can.

Oh how beautiful and easy our deen is

To lend us a message and a helping hand

We've forgotten our ways

Like the moss on these tablets