Kamal and the Seahorse

Kamal went with his family to a beach in a holiday resort. There was an aquarium in front of a small store with some interesting sea-creatures in it. Kamal went up to the aquarium and saw a seahorse swimming around slowly inside.

"You're so small," said Kamal. "I thought seahorses were bigger."

"Yes," answered the seahorse. "Those who see us in books and on television think we are much bigger than we are, which is actually between 2 and 12 inches (4 and 30 cm) long."

Kamal looked closer: "Your eyes can move in every direction, can't they? And so you can know what's going on all around you."

"You're right," the seahorse agreed. "Allah created our heads at right angles to our bodies. No other sea creatures have this characteristic. For that reason, we swim with our bodies in a vertical position and we can only move our heads up or down. Actually, if other creatures had this characteristic, they would have a problem moving their heads to the left and right and would not be able to protect themselves from all sorts of dangers. But we do not have this problem because of the special Creation of our bodies.

Almighty Allah has created our eyes independent of each other and able to move freely in every direction, and as they turn they can see easily all around. So, even if we don't turn our heads from side to side, we can see all around us.

With all the huge variety of characteristics and amazing qualities He has created in living things, Allah shows us His endless artistry and infinite knowledge."

Kamal thought of another question he would like to ask: "There's something I'm curious about: you don't have wings or a tail, so how do you go up and down in the water?"

The seahorse replied: "We have a special system for swimming. We have swimming sacs with a kind of gas inside them. By making the necessary changes in the amount of that gas, we can go up and down in the water. If this air sac were damaged, we would sink to the bottom of the sea, though.

To put it another way, if there were any change in the amount of gas in our swimming sac, we would die. Our Lord has created this amount very carefully."

"What a wonderful Creation!" breathed Kamal.

"As you see, my little friend," the seahorse went on, "Allah has created seahorses and every other creature in the universe with all their perfect qualities. We seahorses are just one of the many kinds of creatures under the sea, and our Creation is an example of Allah's unlimited power and endless knowledge."

When his conversation with the seahorse came to an end, Kamal went back to his mother. The marvelous features in this tiny animal had made Kamal wonder even more about Allah's creative artistry.