Post by Muhammad Taqiyuddin

My sweet dear friend Adam Haikal, It still feels surreal to say this. I cannot believe you are no longer here. Yesterday does not feel real. I keep thinking I will see your name pop up on my phone or that we will somehow end up in another late night conversation like we always did. We have known each other since we were thirteen. We really grew up together. From debate tournaments in high school, staying at Sun Inns because it was cheap and that was all we could afford, to sitting in your office years later working until one or two in the morning. We have seen each other through so many versions of ourselves. You were one of the most brilliant lawyers I have ever met. So inquisitive, always probing, always asking one more question. But honestly, that was never surprising. You have always been the smartest person I know. Academics came naturally to you. Discussing points of law with you was never simple. It would somehow turn into a deeper conversation about principles, about why the law is the way it is. You thought about things properly. You were always a neck ahead of me. I used to feel that, and now I realise how much it pushed me. You made me sharper just by being around you. And then you did what only you would dare to do. You charted your own path. You set up on your own. You took that leap when others would have stayed comfortable. It took courage. The kind of quiet courage that does not announce itself. I am writing this because I do not ever want to forget what we had. The debates, the laughter, the tired silence of working in the same room. The familiarity of knowing someone for more than half your life. The world feels dimmer without you in it. But I am grateful, deeply grateful, that for so many years, I had the privilege of walking alongside you. You will always be one of the greatest minds and gentlest souls I have known. Always your friend.