Cheikh Zakaria Ben Slimane Ben Yahia Ben Cheikh Slimane Ben Hadj Aïssa (12 June 1908 – 17 August 1977), commonly known as Moufdi Zakaria and also referred to by some sources as Zekri Cheikh, was an Algerian activist, nationalist, poet and writer. He was born on 12 June 1908. Of Mozabite origin, he spent the early years of his life in the M’zab region of Algeria. The name Moufdi was given to him by a school friend.
Zakaria became associated with Algerian nationalism and served time in prison for his beliefs from 1937 to 1938. In 1955, he was imprisoned again in Serkadji prison by the French for his political views. There, he wrote a poem called Kassaman or The Pledge. It was said that he wrote the poem on the walls of his cell using his own blood because he had neither pencils nor paper to write in the prison. The poem was later set to music by Mohamed Triki in 1956 and then by Mohamed Fawzi. The final song was heard in 1957. This poem became the Algerian national anthem shortly after 5 July 1962 when independence was achieved.
Here are the lyrics of the anthem’s English translation:
We swear by the lightning that destroys,
By the streams of generous blood being shed,
By the bright flags that wave,
Flying proudly on the high mountains
That we are in revolt, whether to live or to die,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
We are soldiers, for the sake of justice we revolted,
And for our independence we waged war,
When we spoke, nobody listened to us,
So we have taken the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm
And the sound of machine guns as our melody,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
O France, the time of reproof is over
And we have closed it as a book is closed;
O France, this is the day of reckoning
So prepare to receive from us our answer!
In our revolution is the end of empty talk;
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
From our heroes we shall make an army come to being,
From our dead we shall build up a glory,
Our spirits shall ascend to immortality
And on our shoulders we shall raise the Standard.
To the nation’s Liberation Front we have sworn an oath,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
The cry of the motherland sounds from the battlefields.
Listen to it and answer the call!
Let it be written with the blood of martyrs
And be read to future generations.
Oh, Glory, we have held out our hand to you,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
Source of meme: u/ wakchoi_ on r/ IslamicHistoryMeme
aiden19181919 on
Imagine writing your national anthem in prison and still making it sound like a battle cry. That’s not just patriotism that’s poetic vengeance.
Gemevectra on
Man really said ‘write that down!’ with his life on the line 💀
Moose-Rage on
Badass. Algeria is really one of France’s biggest shames.
4 Comments
Cheikh Zakaria Ben Slimane Ben Yahia Ben Cheikh Slimane Ben Hadj Aïssa (12 June 1908 – 17 August 1977), commonly known as Moufdi Zakaria and also referred to by some sources as Zekri Cheikh, was an Algerian activist, nationalist, poet and writer. He was born on 12 June 1908. Of Mozabite origin, he spent the early years of his life in the M’zab region of Algeria. The name Moufdi was given to him by a school friend.
Zakaria became associated with Algerian nationalism and served time in prison for his beliefs from 1937 to 1938. In 1955, he was imprisoned again in Serkadji prison by the French for his political views. There, he wrote a poem called Kassaman or The Pledge. It was said that he wrote the poem on the walls of his cell using his own blood because he had neither pencils nor paper to write in the prison. The poem was later set to music by Mohamed Triki in 1956 and then by Mohamed Fawzi. The final song was heard in 1957. This poem became the Algerian national anthem shortly after 5 July 1962 when independence was achieved.
Here are the lyrics of the anthem’s English translation:
We swear by the lightning that destroys,
By the streams of generous blood being shed,
By the bright flags that wave,
Flying proudly on the high mountains
That we are in revolt, whether to live or to die,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
We are soldiers, for the sake of justice we revolted,
And for our independence we waged war,
When we spoke, nobody listened to us,
So we have taken the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm
And the sound of machine guns as our melody,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
O France, the time of reproof is over
And we have closed it as a book is closed;
O France, this is the day of reckoning
So prepare to receive from us our answer!
In our revolution is the end of empty talk;
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
From our heroes we shall make an army come to being,
From our dead we shall build up a glory,
Our spirits shall ascend to immortality
And on our shoulders we shall raise the Standard.
To the nation’s Liberation Front we have sworn an oath,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
The cry of the motherland sounds from the battlefields.
Listen to it and answer the call!
Let it be written with the blood of martyrs
And be read to future generations.
Oh, Glory, we have held out our hand to you,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!
Source of meme: u/ wakchoi_ on r/ IslamicHistoryMeme
Imagine writing your national anthem in prison and still making it sound like a battle cry. That’s not just patriotism that’s poetic vengeance.
Man really said ‘write that down!’ with his life on the line 💀
Badass. Algeria is really one of France’s biggest shames.