Of a diamond and hardship

* This is not an attempt to describe diamond's physical properties and its characteristics scientifically.

Assalamu'alaikum..
I always believe that my God, Allah created His creations with purpose. He created us to worship Him. And He also created this universe with certain purposes, only He knows all the purposes. Wallahu a'lam. I love beauty, and I can be easily astonished by it. Whether it comes from diamond, sun, stars, animals, jungle, or music, it reminds me effectively of who I am. My iman fluctuates frequently, and I pray to Allah, hoping that He will watch over me and let me die in defending His religion. Insya Allah..

"Diamond is a lump of coal that did well under pressure...."

Diamond has a legendary history. When you hold them, you are actually holding one of the ancient world heritages. Diamond consists of carbon. Coal also consists of carbon. But what makes them different? Although most of people thought that diamond really comes from carbon, some may disagree. But, wait, I'm not writing this to explain the science of coal and diamond. Referring to the above beautiful saying, Let me write you a beautiful story of metaphor.

Coal and diamond are made up of carbon. Both of them are from the same element. But, why are they so different? I often think that we have many similarities with them, perhaps I'm wrong, I can't help but to entertain my metaphoric mind, that we as human and them consist of the same material mostly for us, which is carbon - the renowned building-block of life. So, it is one similarity right?

Coal and diamond both are made up from carbon. But, coal, as you can see is made up of complicated impurities other than carbon. It is not a pure carbon. Diamond, on the other hand, is pure carbon. Diamond as we all know is the most fascinating mineral, chemically resistant and wins the hardest natural substance in the world. And they are rare. But their journey is not an easy one. These guys endure a long hard process before they form diamonds. They were formed around 990 million years ago. And not just that, they must be persistent and consistent enough to withstand the unbelievably high pressure under the mantle. But, where does such pressure exist? Diamonds inhabit a level 200-120 miles below our feet, and the pressure down there is fifty thousand times greater than what we feel above the crust. And do not forget, it is also hot down there. 900 -1300 Celcius.. Masya Allah..

Mantle burst out and became lava.

For them to form a complete diamond, they must endure thousands of years or millions, high pressure, and high temperature, where in my mind initially I thought for that kind of condition there was no place for beauty, just total chaos. But, I was wrong. Beauty did come from there. And I know, humans are like that. We always initially start as a lump of coal. Normal people. Coal also has their benefits. But, for great humans, they choose to be the diamond. Each of us has the choice to make. Our life is full of problems, obstacles, and hardship. What makes us different than others is the way we choose to deal with it. Coal-people chooses to endure small temperature, and they might be glowing for a while in red, but later they will turn into ash and dust. Nothing much. While diamond-people chooses to endure unimaginably insurmountable problems and obstacles, they never give up, and they keep trying although it takes time. They push their limits, and keep their faith intact. Hope is always in front of their mind, and they believe they can achieve their objectives. From this process will born a bright and hard man, with exceptional quality and experience. And they become like diamonds - rare, exceptional quality, and invaluable asset to the earthlings.

You see, coal and diamond have the same core substance. Just like human, each of us has our own unique abilities and potential. It is up to us to choose how to live our life. Well, obviously, diamond chooses to live a much more meaningful life. How? Just be persistent and consistent, never give up, and have our faith to Allah, you'll be the diamond. After all, diamond is a lump of coal that did well under pressure.. :) Look at our history. Our prophet Muhammad was a great man, and his problems and obstacles were also great. He grew up as a strong, fine man. He became an orphan since he was six. He was trained to be the shepherd, and he was out-casted by his own people. And many more tests and hardships he had endured. And there he was, the greatest man in the world. With great obstacles, comes great characteristic. With great characteristic, comes great power. With great power, comes greater responsibility.

Natural uncut diamond.

Similar isn't it? It's pureness is astonishing. They are made up of carbon. We are also made up of carbon. Our DNA, the famous double-helix molecule is made possible by carbon's ability to form long molecular chains. We are similar. To take lesson from them is inevitable. So, let us be the best of us... Wallahu a'lam..