Attempt to fly Since the beginning of time, humans dreamed to fly. They used to look at the birds spreading their wings out and wished they too had wings. But do you know who was the first one to make that dream come true and actually fly? Most people think the Wright Brothers were the first ones to fly but someone flew about one thousand years before them. And that great man was Abbas bin Firnas. He was a Muslim who lived in Emirate of Cordoba. In present day the place is at Ronda, Spain. Abbas bin Firnas was mainly an astronomer,engineer, physician, chemist, Musician, Arabic Poet and an inventor. He did a lot things so still today he is knownfor great work and invention. Abbas bin Firnas dreamed of what the people called the impossible and that was to fly. He thought if birds could fly, why couldn’the? So he started studying the birds. People thought that he was crazy but he didn’tcare. He just kept on going. In the year of 852 Abbas bin Firnas tried flying. So he made a what was kind of like a parachute with a big thick piece of cloth and made it stable with pieces of wood. He jumped off the Great Mosque of Cordobain Spain hoping that his invention would work. Unfortunately it did not work at all but hedid not get hurt that badly thanks to Allah. But Abbas bin Firnas did not quit. He continued to study the birds. He realized that the birds could fly because of the shape of their wings. The wings were round and thick at the topand it was thinner at the end. Abbas bin Firnas started building his wings once again. He tied bamboo with silk strips and covered it with eagle feathers. After he was done he tried flying again. By that time he was 70 years old and it was around the year 880 CE. Historians say that Abbas bin Firnas wenton top of a building or on top of a big hill. Either way, he stood up on something high. People gathered around scared of what that old man was doing. What if he got hurt they thought? What if he died? Abbas bin Firnas told the crowd that if Allah(swt) wanted he would fly by moving his wings up and down. If everything went well he would come backsafely after flying through the sky. He jumped down flapping his wings and people gasped. They were so surprised. Abbas bin Firnas made the impossible come true and he was flying . He flew through the sky like the birds. He made history. He became the first man to ever fly. After flying for some time he decided to getback on the ground. He couldn’t control his landing and crashed. Unfortunately from that accident he had back problems for the rest of his life. He later found out that he couldn’t control his landing because he didn’t have a tail like a bird. The tail helps the birds have control when they land. He became very old when he discovered the tail issue. So he decided that he would let someone elsein the future complete what he couldn’t finish. But world will always remember Abbas bin Firnasfor being the Muslim hero who showed us that nothing is impossible no matter what others say. And next time when you see an airplane be proud that our Muslim brother is the reason that airplane is flying in the sky. May Allah (swt) reward Abbas bin Firnas forhis great invention and give him the highest place in the Jannah. Ameen.