Our little friend Samir, the owner of different thinking and constant pursuit behind true knowledge, was one day sitting with his companions. They were eating lunch and exchanging conversation in a public place near the school they went to. After they finished eating their meal, their hands were filled with sticky grease and fats as a result of eating some meat. They got up to wash their hands before returning to their homes, but they didn’t find soap in the bathroom, so they washed their hands with water only. Samir noticed that the fat didn’t completely leave his hands.
Samir returned home. As soon as he entered, he went to wash up, and of course washed his hands with soap, only to discover that the effect of fats and grease had completely disappeared from what it was. He started thinking about what happened, and how soap had that power to remove fat while water couldn’t perform that task.
Samir started thinking about how a small piece of soap could do all it does. It cleans pots and dishes, cleans the skin from two hands, two feet, and a whole body, in addition to helping remove dirt from clothes and houses. So we use it in our homes, hospitals, hotels, and schools. Here Samir felt that despite its small size, soap was indeed an important element in our daily life.
As we know that our friend Samir is constantly looking and searching for information, for knowledge is the basis of information, so when his sister Suad came to him and asked him about all those pieces of soap he kept above his desk, Samir answered her that he was contemplating them and wondering at the differences between them. Sometimes we find what has a beautiful scent, and another without a scent. It also differs in shape and color. Suad laughed, repeating her usual saying: always prefer to use your mind rather than superficial looking at everything. Samir answered her that science and knowledge come only through careful contemplation and searching for the beginning of things and their essence. Therefore, I will wait for my teacher, Mr. Ali, until he comes and ask him about the story of soap and how humans discovered it.
Mr. Ali came at his appointed time exactly. Samir welcomed him with a big welcoming smile as usual. They sat reviewing lessons until they finished their basic tasks. Then Samir turned to him, asking permission to get some information from him regarding human invention of soap and how it was discovered fundamentally.
Mr. Ali smiled and said to Samir: I admire your rich way of thinking. Listen, Samir, soap was discovered hundreds of years ago. Some people in a small village discovered it. They had just hunted a gazelle, so they slaughtered it and lit fires under it until it cooked completely so they could all eat from it and be satisfied.
During turning the gazelle’s body over the fires, suddenly some fat fell from it below onto the dirt, mixing with some dirt.
The gazelle cooked, and people started dividing it among themselves. After they finished that meal, some of them went to the river to wash their hands of the remaining fat on them, but the fat didn’t go away with water. Some of them went and tried rubbing their hands with some dirt, then washed them in the river. A large part of the fat went away but didn’t completely go away. Some of them picked up some of the dirt that had mixed with some liquid fat from the gazelle during its placement over the fires. To their surprise, the fat went away, and they washed them with water, finding no remains on their hands. From here was the idea of soap and how to manufacture it from some fatty materials.
Samir thanked Mr. Ali for that valuable information. Mr. Ali smiled at him and wished him success, then left.