“The Guardian of Peace: A Tribute to Shaheed Syed Adil Hussain Shah”

By Dr. Bilal Ahmad Bhat, for Three Circle

In the land where rivers whisper and mountains rise,
Where the scent of saffron meets tearful skies,
A soul once walked with courage unshaken,
Whose final breath was nobly taken.

His name — Syed Adil Hussain Shah —
A son of Kashmir, with a lion’s heart and Allah’s law.
In Pahalgam’s quiet, sacred vale,
He stood as storms of terror set sail.

Not for power, nor fame did he stand,
But to shield innocents with his bare hands.
Tourists wandered, unaware of the fate,
That hatred’s bullet would soon dictate.

Most were strangers, their faiths not his own,
Yet he saw in each, a heart and a home.
For true Kashmiriyat flows deep and wide,
In brotherhood, it shall ever abide.

The dark descended, bullets rained fire,
A coward’s war born of blind desire.
Twenty-six fell to the shadows of hate,
Over twenty more bore injury’s weight.

But one man rose — defying the night,
To wrest the gun and uphold the right.
With hands unclenched and fearless eyes,
He met the terror, let truth arise.

He grappled the weapon from a killer’s hand,
An act too rare, too grand to understand.
But fate had written a martyr’s role,
Another gunman struck, and claimed his soul.

A shot to the head, yet never in vain,
For through his blood, peace found its name.
He died a SHAHEED, a sacred flame,
Etched in our hearts, forever his name.

Oh Adil, brave son of the vale,
Your story, your sacrifice, shall never pale.
You stood not for religion, but for humanity’s thread,
And with that stance, your soul was led.

To gardens eternal, where martyrs rest,
Among the honored, the purest, the best.
You proved, in horror’s bleakest night,
That love, not hate, is the final light.

Let no media twist the truth for gain,
Let no division deepen the pain.
Your life spoke louder than any scream,
Of unity, courage — the Kashmir dream.

So rise, O soul, in heaven’s light,
Your name a star in freedom’s night.
Kashmir shall remember, and so shall the earth,
The hero who rose — a symbol of worth.