The World Cup of Men’s Soccerfootball, currently going on in the United States and Canada and Mexico, has given us so many great stories. One of the most fun has been the bond between the Algerian men’s national team and the citizens of Lawrence, Kansas, where their training base is. Lawrence is a college town, home to University of Kansas. It’s a dot of progressivism in an extremely conservative state, and therefore welcoming to all. The welcome has gone so far that the University of Kansas marching band learned the Algerian national anthem and played it at the team’s training session:
And what a national anthem it is!
The best introduction to the world’s most badass national anthem is just to hear it and see the lyrics in real time. Watch this video, and make sure to stay until 27 seconds in, when the lyrics start:
And here are those lyrics, side by side, in both transliterated Arabic (written in Latin letters) and in English translation:
Qasaman bi-n-nazilati l-mahiqat
Wa-d-dima’i z-zakiyati t-tahirat
Qasaman bi-n-nazilati l-mahiqat
Wa-d-dima’i z-zakiyati t-tahirat
Wa-l-bunudi l-lami’ati l-khafiqat
Fi-l-jibali sh-shamikhati sh-shahiqat
Nahnu thurna fa-hayatun ‘aw mamat
Wa-‘aqadna al-‘azma ‘an tahya l-Jaza’ir
Fa-shhadu! Fa-shhadu! Fa-shhadu!
We swear by the lightning that destroys,
By the streams of generous blood being shed,
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,
Bear witness! Bear witness! Bear witness!
The story of its creation is even more badass. Moufdi Zakaria, the independence hero of Algeria (in the same way that George Washington is the independence hero of the United States), wrote the lyrics in his own blood on the walls of the French Serkaji-Barberousse Prison in Algeirs, where he was being tortured.
So, watch the Algeria vs Argentina game tonight at 9 PM ET — but be sure to tune in at 8:55 PM ET to hear the world’s most badass national anthem.
Bonus content: As with most national anthems, people usually sing only the first verse. But the lyrics to the third verse are worth reading as a diss track to colonial overlords France:
Ya Firansa, qad mada waqtu l-‘itab
Wa-tawaynahu kama yutwa l-kitab
Ya Firansa, qad mada waqtu l-‘itab
Wa-tawaynahu kama yutwa l-kitab
Ya Firansa ‘inna dha yawmu l-hisab
Fa-sta’iddi wa-khudhi minna l-jawab
‘Inna fi thawratina faslu l-khitab
Wa-‘aqadna al-‘azma ‘an tahya l-Jaza’ir
Fa-shhadu! Fa-shhadu! Fa-shhadu!
O France, the time of reproof is over
And we have closed it as a book is closed;
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,
Bear witness! Bear witness! Bear witness!