It's a dough, it's a brain: It's the Pearl of Allah

Have you ever wondered how the Pearl of Allah looks like? I first learned about the Pearl of Allah when I was still in grade school. I have actually read about it on some of the books that I borrowed from the school library. The Pearl of Allah which is also known by the name of Pearl of Lao Tzu is considered to be the largest pearl in the world. To this day, it holds a record in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest pearl ever found.

The books and magazines that I have read back when I was about 10 years old did not provide a picture of the world- famous pearl. I have therefore thought that the Pearl of Allah looks the same as those beautiful pearls that people wear as jewelry only bigger. I imagined it to look like a beautiful white ball. I was mistaken. I was surfing the internet for some information about freshwater pearls today when I saw a Wikipedia entry on the pearl of Lao Tzu. Along with the article is a picture of what I first thought was a mass of dough. The picture, I realized, was the Pearl of Allah. Take a look at these pictures:

Images of the Pearl of Allah (source: pearlforpeace.org)

The pearl is not like those beautiful pearls. Let me say, it looks ugly. It even looks like a deformed brain. Nevertheless, it remains to be legendary and precious. Among those who reportedly want to purchase it are Saddam Hussein, Bin Laden and the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos.