المواسم والأعياد في حمص ٤_a .. كتاب حمص

They go to the corner and go down to the hospitality of the Sheikh and whoever exceeds the capacity of the corner will be distributed to some of the people of the neighborhood. All of this takes place on Wednesday evening, the eve of Khomeini.

On Thursday morning, the caliphs, the disciples, the people of the Bab Tadmur neighborhood, and many of the arriving people gather at Al-Zawiya Al-Saadia, and the sheikh’s shifts go: each shift to the house of a caliph from the advanced caliphs who will ride behind the sheikh in the procession. The caliph's shift comes with the sheikh's shift to the corner. The Nubabat gather at Bab al-Zawiya, and when the Nubabat and Caliphs arrive, the head of the Captains arranges the procession according to the Sheikh’s distribution the night before, and the order of the procession is as follows:

The menstrual cycles come first, and their number ranges between thirteen and twenty-one seizures. In some cases, the number may reach twenty-four seizures. Each at his own pace, and these shifts follow the shifts of the sheikh according to the progress in the caliphate.

The Nuba flute consists of four flutes, a drum, and a cymbal, accompanied by a sanjak that walks behind the Nuba. Walking behind Naubat al-Mazahir are the dervishes, or fakir, who are a group of twenty or thirty students of the sheikh, wearing white clothes and a white wool cap on each of their heads. They are like the poor Saadians, and they carry ancient war instruments, with one of the sheikh’s captains at their head, and the dhikr teaches them “Daym, daym, daym, oh God is” and “Allah is great” with a special rhythm all the way back and forth, and they walk with all politeness, respect, and presence while repeating the dhikr, and they walk without a line:
Everyone at their own convenience.

The Saadian order was unique in this model, and the first to come out with this sect of the Fuqārīs, and he singled it out in this form, was Sheikh Khalid al-Saadi, who died / 1289 AH = 1873 AD, and he is the father of Sheikh Saad al-Din, as we have seen. He walks behind the Darwis and the Fuqārīs, Nubat al-Shashtari / (1), and the minimum is four drums and a sana, and he may come out. With eight drums, two cymbals, and a sanjak accompanying them.

The first person to use the Shashtari shift on the Sheikh’s Thursday was Sheikh Mustafa Othman in the procession of Sheikh Bakkar al-Qadiri on Friday. Sheikh Saad al-Din approved of it and invited Sheikh Mustafa to go out with him on the Shashtari Thursday, so he accepted. He started going out on Thursdays with the sheikh. Saad El-Din and on Friday with Sheikh Bakkar.

Walking behind Naubat / Al-Shashtari / is a large gathering of the Sheikh’s students, his lovers, and the people of Bab Tadmur. They are the most beautiful thing in the Thursday of the Sheikhs due to the large number of participants. They are headed by two captains, and they are singing: Al-Fayd Al-Asna bi Al-Asmaa Al-Husna, composed by Sheikh Saad Hay Al-Din, and the people around the captains are repeating the refrain in a voice that fills the horizons with supplication and supplication. To God Almighty.

Behind them comes the sheikh, riding his horse, with a carpet on the horse. A flag or banner is raised for the Sheikh, and one of the leading disciples holds the reins of the horse. The Sheikh is accompanied by two singers, one from the right and one from the left. Each of them places his hand on the saddle of the horse, and they exchange chants of duets, called: Mutawa’i and poems, starting from Bab Al-Zawiya until the return and from the Mutawa’iyat. :

Be with people of virtue and be with them in their steadfastness. Perhaps on the day of thirst we will supply their afflictions. (2)

They are an honorable people, and the Lord of the Throne has given them people of chastity. You can recognize them by their marks. (3)

The sheikh wears the uniform of the Saadian nobles, which is a white robe, a robe, and a white woolen turban. He wears a wide woolen sack on his head, and on his shoulders a white, brocaded cloak. He may sometimes put it on his head instead of a sack, and he holds a rag in his hand, leaning it on the horse’s saddle at some times. Some of the sheikhs hold a sword or any traditional weapon in their hand. He puts his edge on his forehead while walking.

After the Sheikh come his successors who are advanced in age and succession according to the previous order. Their number ranges between ten and twenty caliphs. Each of them rides on his horse or mule, with the sign of the Saadi masters next to him, indicating that he is the successor of the sheikh, but a carpet is not placed on the saddle of the animal they are riding, and without repeating to them / duets or poems while standing. The procession proceeds, as mentioned, back and forth.

Procession etiquette:

The procession had its own etiquette: If the procession passed the grave of one of the righteous, they would stand and ring the spell and recite the Fatiha, then the procession would continue on its way. And if they passed by a scholar or a prominent figure in the country, such as a ruler, a senior official, a sheikh from one of the sheikhs affiliated with one of the Sufi orders, or notables from the People were standing and ringing the Nuba, and the meaning of this Nuba was exchanged with them, and the people standing greeted them by reciting Al-Fatihah for the soul of the Holy Prophet, his family, and the people of the Tariqa. And so do all the other seizures.

Procession order:

The oldest document we have that mentions the arrangement of the sheikhs is the poem of Sheikh Abd al-Hadi al-Wafa’i, which he composed in the year 1305 AH - 88/1887 AD, that is, about twenty-two years before his death, and in it he mentions the names of sheikhs who preceded the date of the poem’s composition by fifty years. This indicates that the arrangement of the sheikhs in the Thursday procession has not undergone any change since Sheikh Al-Wafa’i’s childhood. And perhaps before his birth, unless one of the sheikhs dies and is succeeded by the one he nominated to succeed him. The poem was originally composed by Sheikh Al-Wafa’i in response to a person called “Al-Maqdour” who flirted in the parks of Aleppo, and Al-Wafa’i responded to him with a poem that begins:

Homs is nothing but the gardens of the people. Leave Aleppo, so do not speak, no matter how much lies we can. In it, he describes the landscape of Homs that was known outside the country, such as the field in the west of the city, Al-Mimas, on the Orontes in its northwest, Ain Al-Safa, west of Baba Amr, Montazah Al-Buhaira and its dam, and Jobar on the way. To the lake after Baba Amr, and to Tell Idris near the Orontes, west of Baba Amr. Then he moves on to the fives, enumerates their names and mentions their characteristics. On Plant Thursday, people grow their fortunes in the citadel’s well, as we passed by and then:

- And after him, a day will come when the sweetness of eating it will appear among women (2)

- The people of the villages narrate from their grandfather the news of someone who has not tasted its taste during his year as a scab (2)

- Yes, the Thursday in which our sheikhs visit Amr bin Ma’ad, his grandfather, Karba (3)