"Land of the Two Rivers" (), also translated as the "Land of the Euphrates", was the national anthem of Iraq from 1981 to 2003, during the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein.
History
thumb|1983 performance
thumb|1985 performance
It was adopted in 1981, written by Shafiq al-Kamali (who died in 1984) with music by Walid Georges Gholmieh.
The lyrics make mention of important people in Iraqi history, such as Saladin, Harun al-Rashid, and al-Muthanna ibn Haritha, with the last verse extolling Ba'athism.
In shortened performances, the chorus was played twice, preceded by an instrumental introduction. Other abridged performances had the chorus twice, then the first verse once, concluding with the chorus performed twice. In full performances, the chorus was sung first twice, then each verse once with the chorus repeated twice in between, then the chorus sung again twice at the end.
After the ousting of Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime in 2003, the former national anthem of Iraq from the late 1950s and early 1960s, "Mawtini" (not to be confused with the current Iraqi national anthem of the same name) was reintroduced on a provisional basis. That was replaced in 2004 by the new Iraqi government with a new national anthem, also called "Mawtini", which is currently in use today.
Lyrics
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!Arabic original
!Romanization of Arabic
!English translation
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𝄆 Waṭanun madda ʿalā l-ufqi janāḥā,
Wa-rtadā majda l-ḥaḍārāti wišāḥā,
Būrikat ʾarḍu l-Furātayni waṭan,
ʿAbqarī al-majdi ʿazman wa-samāḥā. 𝄇
𝄆 Hāḏihi l-ʾarḍu lahībun wa-sanā
Wa-šumūxun lā tudānīhi samā 𝄇
Jabalun yasmū ʿalā hāmi d-dunā
Wa-suhūlun jassadat fīnā l-ʾibā
Bābilu fīnā wa-ʾĀšūru lanā
Wa-binā t-tārīxu yaxḍallu ḍiyā
Naḥnu fī n-nāsi jamʿanā waḥdanā
Ġaḍbata s-sayfi wa-ḥilm al-ʾanbiyāʾ
𝄆 Ḥīna ʾawqadnā rimāl al-ʿurbi ṯawra
Wa-ḥamalnā rāyata t-taḥrīri fikra 𝄇
Munḏu ʾan lazza Muṯannā l-xayli muhra
Wa-Ṣalāḥu-d-Dīni ġaṭā-hā rimāḥā
𝄆 Qasaman bi-s-sayfi wa-l-qawli l-ʾabī
Wa-ṣahīli l-xayli ʿinda ṭ-ṭalabi 𝄇
Innanā sūru madā-hā l-ʾarḥabi
Wa-hadīru š-šaʿba yawm an-nuwwabi
ʾAwraṯatnā l-bīdu rāyāt an-nabī
Wa-s-sajāyā wa-š-šumūx al-yaʿrubī
Majjidī, jaḏlā, bilāda l-ʿarabi
Naḥnu ʾašraqnā fa-yā šams ʾuġrubī
𝄆 Al-jibāhu s-sumru bišrun wa-maḥabba
Wa-ṣumūdun šaqqa li-l-ʾinsāni darba 𝄇
ʾAyyuhā l-qāʾidu li-l-ʿalyāʾi šaʿba
Ijʿali l-ʾāfāqa li-ṣ-ṣawlāti sāḥa
𝄆 Yā sarāyā l-baʿṯi yā ʾusda l-ʿarīn
Yā šumūx al-ʿizzi wa-l-majdi t-talīd 𝄇
Izḥafī ka-l-hawli li-n-naṣri l-mubīn
Wa-baʿṯī fī ʾarḍinā ʿahd ar-Rašīd
Naḥnu jīlu l-baḏil, fajru l-kadiḥīn
Yā riḥāb al-majdi ʿudnā min jadīd
ʾUmmatan tabnī bi-ʿazmin lā yalīn
Wa-šahīdin yaqtafī xaṭwa šahīd
𝄆 Šaʿbunā l-jabbāru zahwun wa-nṭilāq
Wa-qilāʿu l-ʿizzi yabnīhā r-rifāq 𝄇
Dumta li-l-ʿurbi malāḏan, yā ʿIrāq
Wa-šumūsan tajʿalu l-layla ṣabāḥā
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𝄆 A fatherland has extended its wings over the horizon,
And worn the glory of civilisations as a garment.
Blessed be the land of the Euphrates,
A homeland of glorious determination and tolerance. 𝄇
𝄆 This homeland is made of flame and splendor
And pride unmatched by the highest heaven. 𝄇
'Tis a mountain that rises above the tops of the world,
And a plain that embodies our pride.
Babylon flows in our blood and Assyria is ours,
And with us history itself radiates with light,
We alone, from among mankind, combined in possession
The anger of the sword and the patience of the prophets
𝄆 When we ignited the sands of Arabs into a revolution
And bore the flag of liberty as an ideology 𝄇
Since al-Muthanna of Horses charged
And Saladin covered it with spears!
𝄆 We pledge by sword and the speech of pride,
And the neighing of horses when in duty. 𝄇
We are the wall of its limitless range
And the roarings of people in days of war.
We inherited the flags of the Prophet from the desert
And Arabian nature and pride.
Glorify well the Land of the Arabs
We have risen; O Sun, set
𝄆 The tanned foreheads are filled with laughter and love
And firmness that cruised for humans their way 𝄇
O Thou who is leading his people to supreme elevation,
Make of the horizons our battlefields.
𝄆 O company of the Ba'ath, pride of lions,
O pinnacle of pride and of inherited glory, 𝄇
Advance, like terror, to a certain victory
And resurrect the time of al-Rashid in our land!
We are a generation who give all and toil to the utmost.
O expanse of glory, we have returned anew
To a nation that we build with unyielding determination.
And each martyr follows the footsteps of a former martyr.
𝄆 Our mighty nation is filled with pride and vigour
And the comrades build the fortresses of glory. 𝄇
May Thou remain forever a refuge for all Arabs, O Iraq
And be as suns that turn night into day!
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See also
- List of historical national anthems
References
External links
- (in MP3 format)
- "Ardulfurataini Watan" (in MIDI format)
- "Ardulfurataini Watan" (in MIDI format)
- Coldstream Guards performance