Sheikh Shems
{{Short description|Yazidi holy figure}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Yazidi
| deity_of = Lord of sun, fire, light, sustenance
| member_of = the Heptad
| venerated_in = Yazidism
| symbols = Sun, fire, light,
| region = Kurdistan
| ethnic_group = Yezidis
| father = Ezdina Mir
| children = Şêx Alê Şemsa, Şêx Amadînê Şemsa, Şêx Avîndê Şemsa, Şêx Babadînê Şemsa, Şêx Bavikê Şemsa, Şêx ʿEvdalê Şemsa, Şêx Hesenê Şemsa, Şêxê Reş (Cinteyar), Şêx Tokilê Şemsa, Şêx Xidirê Şemsa, Sitya Îs (Ês), Sitiya Nisret, Sitiya Bilxan (Belqan)
| siblings = Fexredîn, Nasirdîn, Sejadin
| festivals = Rojiyên Şêşims (Şêşims fasts), three-day fasting held in his honor during December, two weeks prior to Cejna Êzî.
| image = Views of the Shrine of Shekh Shems at Lalish 06.jpg
| caption = Sheikh Shems shrine at Lalish
| name = Şêx Şems
}}{{Yazidism}}
Sheikh Shems or Melek Shams ad-Din ({{Langx|ku|Şêx Şems, Şêşims, Melek Şemsedîn}}{{cite book | last=Omarkhali | first=Khanna | author-link=Khanna Omarkhali | title=The Yezidi religious textual tradition, from oral to written: categories, transmission, scripturalisation, and canonisation of the Yezidi oral religious texts | publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag | publication-place=Wiesbaden | year=2017 | isbn=978-3-447-10856-0 | oclc=994778968}}) is a holy figure venerated in Yazidism, he is considered one of the Seven Divine Beings, to all of whom God assigned the World's affairs, and his earthly incarnation is considered one of the four sons of Ezdina Mir along with Nasirdîn, Fexredîn, and Sicadîn, who are the respective ancestors and patriarchs of the four Şemsanî Sheikh lineages.{{cite book | last=Kreyenbroek | first=Philip | author-link=Philip G. Kreyenbroek | title=God and Sheikh Adi are perfect: sacred poems and religious narratives from the Yezidi tradition | publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag | publication-place=Wiesbaden | year=2005 | isbn=978-3-447-05300-6 | oclc=63127403}}
Biography
Sêx Şems, also known as Şêşims,{{Cite web|title=Übersicht zu den "Rojîs" - den ezidischen Feier-und Fastentagen|url=https://celleheute.de/uebersicht-zu-den-rojis-den-ezidischen-feier-und-fastentagen|access-date=2021-10-23|website=CELLEHEUTE.DE|language=de}} and Şemsedîn,{{Cite book|last1=Kreyenbroek|first1=Philip G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KJTuS0h0iCQC&dq=%C5%9Eemsed%C3%AEn&pg=PA91|title=God and Sheikh Adi are Perfect: Sacred Poems and Religious Narratives from the Yezidi Tradition|last2=Rashow|first2=Khalil Jindy|last3=Jindī|first3=Khalīl|date=2005|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-05300-6|language=en}} is one of the members of the Heptad and one of the most fundamental theological symbols in Yazidism as the divinity of the Sun, source of light and life, the divine light of God. He is also linked with fire, which is his terrestrial counterpart and oaths, which are sworn by the doorway of his shrine. Annually, during the Feast of the Assembly, a ceremonial bull sacrifice is performed in front of his shrine in Lalish. Şêx Şems is the eponym of one of the four principal Şemsanî Sheikh lineages, was the patriarch of the Şemsanî family and brother of Fexredîn, Sicadîn and Nasirdîn.{{Cite journal|last1=Fobbe, Sean|last2=Navrouzov, Natia|last3=Hopper, Kristen|last4=Khudida Burjus, Ahmed|last5=Philip, Graham|last6=Nawaf, Maher G|last7=Lawrence, Daniel|last8=Walasek, Helen|last9=Birjandian, Sara|last10=Ali, Majid Hassan|last11=Rashidani, Salim|date=2019-08-02|title=Destroying the Soul of the Yazidis: Cultural Heritage Destruction during the Islamic State's Genocide against the Yazidis|url=https://zenodo.org/record/3826126|journal=|language=en|pages=55–109|doi=10.5281/zenodo.3826126}}{{Cite web|title=The Yazidi mausoleums in Bozan|url=https://www.mesopotamiaheritage.org/en/monuments/les-mausolees-yezidis-de-bozan/|access-date=2021-10-24|website=Mesopotamia}}{{Cite book|last=Murad|first=Jasim Elias|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WdTxtgAACAAJ|title=The Sacred Poems of the Yazidis: An Anthropological Approach|date=1993|publisher=University of California, Los Angeles|pages=313–326|language=en}}{{Cite book|last=Kreyenbroek|first=Philip G.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTQqAQAAMAAJ|title=Yezidism--its Background, Observances, and Textual Tradition|date=1995|publisher=E. Mellen Press|isbn=978-0-7734-9004-8|pages=92–124, 127|language=en}}
Children
The nine sons of Sheikh Shems are:{{cite book | last=Kreyenbroek | first=Philip | author-link=Philip G. Kreyenbroek | title=Yezidism: its background, observances, and textual tradition | publisher=E. Mellen Press | publication-place=Lewiston NY | year=1995 | isbn=0-7734-9004-3 | oclc=31377794}}Diar Khalaf and Hayri Demir. 2013. Mythos und Legende der Shex Mend und das Symbol der Schlange (Myth and legend of the Şêx Mend and the symbol of the snake) (in German).
- Şêx Alê Şemsa
- Şêx Amadînê Şemsa
- Şêx Avîndê Şemsa
- Şêx Babadînê Şemsa
- Şêx Bavikê Şemsa
- Şêx ʿEvdalê Şemsa
- Şêx Hesenê Şemsa
- Şêxê Reş (Cinteyar)
- Şêx Tokilê Şemsa
- Şêx Xidirê Şemsa
His daughters are:
- Sitiya Îs/Ês
- Sitiya Nisret
- Sitiya Bilxan (Belqan)
References
{{reflist}}
{{Yazidi saints}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shems, Sheikh}}
Category:Year of birth unknown
Category:Year of death unknown
Category:12th-century Kurdish people
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