If I Were to Die Today…

Tribute To Saiful Ashraf

Every time that I head out to the beach , to the place where the land and the water meet, I think about a friend. A friend that taught me more than any educator could. A friend that told me, “Time and tide waits for no man”, and now I understand what he meant.

He wasn’t perfect but yet he was more than human.
He wasn’t the best in everything but yet he was talented.
He wasn’t what I thought people like him should be, but yet he defied stereotypes.

I always told him that he was too stubborn for his own good, and his siblings would have been right there agreeing with me. But it was such qualities that allowed him to accomplish all that he did in his life. Saiful Ashraf also known as Honorable Brother A.K.A.D.E.M.I.K of the Iota Nu Delta Fraternity lived a life that many wish to live. A life of balance and equilibrium. The pendulum of his timeline stayed coherently in form. He always spoke about how hard it was growing up in Brooklyn his hometown but I never believed him. It’s much harder to grow up in the oat fields of Oklahoma, and he would laugh.

Saiful was a dreamer , a fighter , a hero , a brother, a son , and a best friend. His personality influenced all the people he came across. If I never met him I wouldn’t be here right now. Saiful had a diamond for a heart, the purest of things and also the hardest of things. He would talk about how he would go back to Bangladesh and build a hospital. That just shows his ability to care and be generous. He told me that he would do it because his father wished to do that for the people less fortunate. That just shows respect and honor for his parents. He was in a fraternity and also kept a close relationship with me. That shows his loyalty and friendship. He was in books more than he was into having a good time. I don’t know what that shows but never the less he was a man of many principles.

One of the main centers of his life was his family and his brotherhood. Many people knew him but didn’t know him on the same level as a hand full of people did. His brotherhood with Iota Nu Delta was the flame deep within him and his family was the fuel that kept that flame burning. He joined while having various family problems. He didn’t complain much about it and just told me that his family didn’t understand and that he needed to do it for himself. Then he realized that it was because of his family he was doing it and his parents loved him dearly and just wanted him home. That was when he became a man , he said. That was when he became a brother. Joining Iota Nu Delta is an accomplishment that only few people can show for and he did it. His head strong mentality was the driver of his mind, body , and soul.

Saiful loved his siblings the most, yes ALL five of them. As much as he yelled at them and made them cry, he would have been the first to cry if anything happened to them. He was closest to Nadia and his baby brother Sammy. He saw two sides of life that he himself did not get to see. He saw the innocence of childhood in Nadia and the joy of life in Sammy.

Saiful loved to be apart of everything. He joined as many organizations as he could and played vital roles in everyone of them. His favorite was playing baseball. Saiful was great at his pinnacle and was even rumored to be drafted by many minor league teams. He wasn’t perfect in school but boy was his grades some of the best. He was a determined and hard worker and it showed every time he got his grades back. There was this one time in his life that he was almost a year and a half behind in school work and he still managed to make up everything and graduate on time. There isn’t anyone that I one that did what he did. He always aimed high and for the stars, even if he didn’t hit the stars he would still be in space , higher than most people.

It difficult to continue this speech because no amount of words can describe the impact he had in the world during his time. He would never want people to mourn for him but to take his lessons and actions and better themselves to assure that the future would be a brighter place for all. He was a worldly man, one that didn’t conceal himself to materialistic dreams or the idea of fame. Saiful was more than just a man, he was a king , a king that wanted prosperity for his kingdom and for all the lands.