Tala Al-Shoufi’s Story: They Were the Guardians of Your Jasmine

Tala Houssam al-Shoufi was born on 7 June 2010, in the city of As Suwayda. Her father fondly describes her as the butterfly of her home, a gentle breeze that filled their lives with warmth and vitality.

Tala spent most of her time drawing, playing music, and singing. She did not seek recognition but created art out of pure, genuine love. She began formal training on the violin in 2016 and, through sheer determination and self-directed online learning, mastered the guitar entirely on her own, without a single teacher.

She was an exceptionally brilliant student, scoring an outstanding 309 out of 310 on her 2025 Basic Education Certificate exams. Tala aspired to become a psychiatrist, often saying that this path would allow her to be closer to people, understand their struggles, and help heal their sorrow and ease their burdens.

In 2023, she won the Sada Al-Janoub (Echo of the South) Short Story Award in the children and youth category for her story, “Pale Sun”. That same year, she co-founded the Basmatuna Khadra (Our Footprint is Green) environmental initiative. By early 2025, she had joined the Li Uyounik Ya Balad (For You, My Country) team as a volunteer, supporting education and strengthening community cohesion.

Tala was also a member of the local Orchidea Choir. In 2024, she wrote, composed, and performed the song Kano Li Yasminek Hurras (They Were the Guardians of Your Jasmine), dedicating it to the martyrs of the Syrian revolution. Initially, she refused to publish the piece, believing she would eventually create something even better. Yet after her passing, the song resonated deeply and went viral; many artists covered it, and musicians from outside Syria translated and performed it in English.

Her friendships were built entirely on love and mutual support. Together, they exchanged books, held discussions, and encouraged one another to play music, sing, paint, and read. The bond lasted three years, growing stronger with each passing day.

Her friend, Katherine, wrote to Tala’s mother, saying,

“Tala was everything in our lives. We will never forget her, nor any detail about her. She supported us, gave us strength, and stood by us. You would not believe the impact Tala had on my life over these past three years since the day I met her; she changed everything in me and taught me so much.”

Her relationship with her brother, Ghaith, who is four years older, was deeply beautiful. She trusted him deeply, constantly seeking his opinion on everything she created, whether it was a drawing, a piece of music, or her writing, just as he, in turn, valued her advice and sought it.

On 15 July 2025, her father, Dr. Houssam al-Shoufi, a dentist, heard heavy gunfire and shelling echoing across As Suwayda. Seeking safety, he fled the city with his family toward the Salkhad region. Later, believing As Suwayda had become safer, he decided to return.

However, on 16 July during their return journey, their car was fired upon. Four bullets struck the vehicle; one pierced Tala’s head while she was in the car with her father, her mother, Nisreen, and her brother. They rushed her immediately to the As Suwayda National Hospital.

At the hospital, the corridors were overflowing with bodies and the wounded. At noon, tanks surrounded the building. Around four in the afternoon, public security forces and armed factions stormed the hospital. They killed a nurse and executed an engineer named Wael Azzam for refusing to hand over the password to the surveillance cameras. They then seized all hospital records.

Tala’s family remained trapped inside, along with other patients and the wounded, until 10:00 the following morning. Only then did the armed factions withdraw, and local community-led groups (popular factions) enter the building, telling them, “You are safe now.”

Once the siege was lifted, Tala’s father began a desperate search for his daughter’s body among the scattered corpses. He found her only after searching relentlessly for nearly an entire day, finally locating her at 5:00 the next morning.

In October 2025, an initiative was launched in As Suwayda under the name “The Tala Award -Guardian of Jasmine.” The prize honors community initiatives that promote a culture of non-violence and foster humanitarian values.

This narrative is based solely on the personal testimony of Tala’s father, Dr. Houssam al-Shoufi.