Moufdi Zakaria

Moufdi Zakaria Poems

Moufdi Zakaria Biography

Moufdi Zakaria; (born, Zekri Cheikh. Arabic: مفدي زكرياء ‎), was an Algerian poet and writer. He wrote "Kassaman", the Algerian national anthem while in prison in 1955. Cheikh Zakaria Ben Slimane Ben Yahia Ben Cheikh Slimane Ben Hadj Aissa was born on 12 June 1908. He was given the nickname of Moufdi by a school friend. He was born and attended school in the M'zab region of Algeria. His university education was in Tunis where he met a number of poets including Aboul-Qacem Echebbi. His first poetry was published in a Tunisian newspaper in 1925. He became associated with Algerian nationalists and served time in prison for his beliefs in 1937 and 1938. In 1956 he was imprisoned in Serkadji prison by the French for his politics. There he wrote a poem called Qassaman or The Pledge. It was said that he wrote the poem on the walls of his cell using his own blood. 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. Zakaria died in 1977 in Tunisia but his body was buried in Algeria.)

The Best Poem Of Moufdi Zakaria

Kassaman (We Pledge)

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 have risen up, and whether we live or die,
We are resolved that Algeria shall live -
So be our witness -be our witness - be our witness!

We are soldiers in revolt for truth
And we have fought for our independence.
When we spoke, none 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 resolved that Algeria shall live -
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

O France, the time of reproof is over
And we have ended it as a book is ended;
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 resolved that Algeria shall 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 resolved that Algeria shall live -
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

The cry of the Fatherland 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 resolved that Algeria shall live -
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

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