Malak, Malik, Yasmin, and Nour Yousef Sharaf

Praise be to God who has honored us with the greatest honor, and granted us by His grace the highest ranks and decorations of this world and the next, by making from us not one martyr, but many. And so my family, whom I bid farewell with a patient and steadfast heart, carries the name 'Sharaf' [honor] as an attribute, in word and in deed. I announce to you with a wounded, grief-stricken heart, but one that is, by God, patient and steadfast, I announce my family, the most precious thing I owned in my life, the dearest of people, and my strongest support. My wife, the light of my eyes, my life companion and partner on the path, Islam Ba'alousha. My children, the pieces of my heart, for whom I toiled for a long lifetime, and would have toiled longer still for their success, who always earned the best grades and achieved the highest honors. (Malak in the sixth grade, Malik my crown prince in the fifth grade, Yasmin in the first grade, and Nour, who was three years old). And my message to the enemy is this: you will not weaken us. We weep because we are human and we love our families, but we will not be broken. By God, we will not be broken. And O Lord, take from our blood until you are satisfied.