Historical Background

"Qassaman" the Pledge; came into being during Algeria's war for independence.

The words were written by Moufdi Zakaria (1908-1977)in 1956 in Serkaji-Barberousse Prison in Algiers, where he was incarcerated by the colonial forces. The poem was put into music, first by Mohamed Triki in 1956, then by the Egyptian composer Mohamed Fawzi.

It became the National Anthem after the independence of Algeria on July 5th 1962.

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Lyrics in Arabic

1st November Declaration

"QUASSAMAN": THE 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 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!

2

We are soldiers in revolt for truth
And we have fought for our independence.
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!

3

Ô France!
Past is the time of palavers
We closed it as we close a book
Ô France!
The day to settle the accounts has come!
Prepare yourself! Here is our answer!
The verdict, our Revolution will return it

We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness - be our witness - be our witness!

4

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

5

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 determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness - be our witness - be our witness

Unofficial Translation