A Chair for Layla
The new girl’s name was Layla, and she sat at the far table with her lunchbox closed, watching her shoes. She had moved from another country, and her English came out slowly, one careful word at a time.
Noor remembered her own first day, two years ago, when she had hidden behind the library door at lunchtime so nobody would see her eating alone. Her heart still remembered that feeling.
So Noor picked up her lunchbox, walked across the whole noisy hall, and pulled up a chair. “I’m Noor. This chair is for you.” Layla’s smile started small, and then it grew and grew.
By Friday, Layla had taught the whole table three words in her language, and Noor had taught her where the library hides the best stories. “You gave her a chair,” said their teacher. “No,” said Noor. “I just gave her what I once wished someone would give me.”
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” (Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim)