After the death of Rashid Talia in September 1926, succumbing to wounds sustained in the Battle of Al-Shabki, and during his burial proceedings by a group of Syrian revolution fighters, one of the female fighters, “Radia Saeed,” shouted to increase the depth of the grave, saying in the local dialect, “Deepen the hole, deepen it.”
“Deepen the hole” is a concept used in Jabal Al-Arab that implies spite and anger, which prompted the fighters, led by Sultan Pasha al-Atrash, to rebuke the female fighter, saying, “Shame on you, woman.. Shame.. What kind of talk is this? Do you know for whom we are digging this grave? This is the grave of the fighter Rashid Talia.”
The female fighter replied, “I know, and I beg you to fulfill my wish.” When those present asked her about the reason for her insistence on deepening the hole, she replied: “Bury Rashid Talia standing and do not lay him down (stretch him) on the ground so that the revolution remains standing!”
This matter was confirmed decades later by the head of the Veterans Association in As-Suwayda, retired Colonel Hamad Amro, when he went to the village of Al-Shabki with a group of his fellow veterans to examine the site with the intention of moving the remains of the fighter “Talia” to erect a memorial for him at the expense of the people of the town of “Al-Shabki,” who affirmed their appreciation and loyalty to that great fighter.
The tomb was excavated, and the head was the first to appear from the remains of the late martyr, followed by the chest, arms, and the rest of the body parts. These sacred remains were moved to the place where a proper monument was built and inaugurated in an official and popular ceremony in 2003.
Related materials:
The Ma'roufi Rashid Talia, the first Prime Minister of the Jordanian government
