Judging someone by their outward appearance is always wrong. That was why the philosopher Socrates said, “Speak so that I may see you.” Since then, his words have been on the lips of people all over the world.
A person’s public image does not tell the full story. Many people carry reputations that paint them as villains or thieves or worse, but they may have a hidden, different side. The following true story, shared by an Iraqi doctor, carries a great lesson.
The doctor recounted that one day, a 79-year-old woman came to his clinic, accompanied by a woman of the same age and two young men. He said the elderly woman was ill but very beautiful, with colorful eyes. Despite her age, she showed no signs of osteoporosis, was active, strong, and had a cheerful personality.
Impressed by her appearance, the doctor asked her how beautiful she had been in her youth. The woman replied that in her younger days, men used to throw money at her feet, revealing that she had worked for years as an all-night dancer at the Layali Al-Safa nightclub in Baghdad’s Al-Salihiya neighborhood.
The doctor then asked if, given the chance to be young again, she would return to dancing or choose to repent and give it up altogether.
She asked, “What wrong have I done that requires repentance?” She then said, “If I regained my youth, I would dance again, not just at night, but during the day as well.”
The other elderly woman accompanying her said, “We used to live in a poor neighborhood, and she would come home late every day, drunk and exhausted.
Yet, she never went to bed before visiting the homes of the poor neighbors to give them money. Every Eid, she distributed new clothes to the children. She helped many underprivileged students in the area until they graduated and went on to take prominent positions. “We also have a woman in the area who teaches the Quran and appears righteous, but she lends money at high interest.
That woman was later diagnosed with mouth cancer, spent all her money on treatment, and died, but no one from the neighborhood attended her funeral. “For nearly 40 years, the people in our neighborhood have cared deeply for your dancing patient.”
The doctor said the old woman’s story deeply moved him. What surprised him even more was that the two young men eagerly competed to pay the doctor’s fee for her. When the doctor asked who they were, one replied that he lived in the same neighborhood and that his father had instructed him before his death never to stop caring for the old woman. The doctor added that the two young men called her “Grandma,” which is why he refused to accept any payment.
The doctor recalled that the elderly woman asked, with a big smile, if he would stop dancing if she could regain her youth. This is a dancer from Baghdad’s nightclubs who helps the poor, while we have some Arab politicians who steal and plunder public funds, and deceive people by pretending to be righteous and devoted to prayer.
This is the man who sparked World War I The person behind one of the greatest catastrophes in modern history was a Serbian student named Gavrilo Princip. Rejected from the Serbian Army for being too short, he sought to prove his courage by assassinating Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife during their visit to Sarajevo on June 28, 1914. This set off a chain of escalating conflicts.
Austria declared war on Serbia, prompting Russia to declare war on Austria. Germany, angered by Russia’s declaration, declared war on Russia in turn. France, allied with Russia, then declared war on Germany.
Germany fought France and invaded Belgium, leading Belgium and Britain to declare war on Germany. The Ottoman Empire, siding with Germany after it came under attack, entered the war against the opposing powers. Thus began World War I in 1914, which resulted in over 16 million deaths, 8 million missing, and 2 million wounded. All of this happened because of one man’s reckless attempt to prove his boldness.
