The Sultanah of Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris has penned an emotional letter for her late son, Tunku Abdul Jalil, who passed away on Saturday (5th December).
Titled “A letter to my son, Jalil“, the letter was posted on her Facebook page, and detailed the People’s Prince’s final days with the Johor royal family.
It reads:
A letter to my son, Jalil :
My darling Lil,
I know the only reason you wanted to be in hospital was because you were in great pain but that you really wanted to be home : you’ve been in too many hospitals too many times. But Allah, in His Infinite wisdom, placed you there so that we, your family, would spend as much time as we could with you.
I have a thousand and one memories of you during your last days in this world.
I remember, once, you closed your eyes and tears flowed onto your cheeks, as you fought the pain, and I held your left hand and I wept, trying hard not to make any sounds. I thought you could not see me cry because your eyes were closed but you knew, and you put your right hand over mine and you patted it, as if you were saying, “Don’t cry, I am all right.”
I remember all the text messages you sent me. When I wrote that I was praying for you, you wrote back that you had prayed too, but that you had asked Allah to let you bear the burden of my worries.
When I looked at your grave, my heart ached with pain. I watched your father and your brothers fill it up with earth while Boo and Inah stood near me. I looked at your brothers and counted three sons. Boo was beside me. There are five of you. Where was my fifth son? And then I realised it was you who was missing. I had forgotten you were beneath the mounds of earth.
And I held up my hands and whispered “From You we come, and to You we return. I return to You, O Allah, my son.”
May you be with the righteous, my son.
The above letter has been shared over 41,000 times and has since garnered over 5,100 comments. Malaysian netizens have been flocking to her Facebook page to leave tonnes of messages of love and support.
Tunku Abdul Jalil, the Tunku Laksamana of Johor, passed away at the royal ward in the Sultanah Aminah Hospital at 7:11pm on Saturday. He had been battling liver cancer. It is learnt that members of the Johor royal family were at his bedside when he breathed his last. He was 25 years old.
A semi-state funeral was held for the People’s Prince (as he was fondly known) on Sunday, 6th December and he was laid to rest at the Mahmoodiah Royal Mausoleum in Johor Baru. Following which, a 3-day mourning period began for the public and civil servants in Johor while members of the royal family are observing a 7-day mourning period.
Our hearts and prayers go out to the royal family of Johor as well as our friends in Johor during this difficult time. May he rest in peace.
Source: Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris’ Facebook page.
