Algeria National Anthem: Kassaman

Key Facts

1. The best-known story, reported by the Algeria Press Service, holds that Zakaria had neither paper nor pen in his cell and wrote the verses on the wall in his own blood; a scholarly study calls it a legend.
2. The third stanza names France directly and declares that the day of reckoning has come. In the 1980s, under President Chadli Bendjedid, the authorities tried to remove it, arguing that Kassaman was the only anthem in the world to name another country, but a parliamentary committee rejected the amendment.
3. In November 2008, Algeria amended Article 5 of its Constitution to declare the anthem 'immutable' and to define it as Kassaman in all its stanzas.
4. A presidential decree signed by Abdelmadjid Tebboune in May 2023 made all five stanzas mandatory at official commemorations attended by the president; the 1986 rules had reserved the full anthem for FLN congresses and presidential inaugurations, and a shortened version is still played at other official ceremonies with the president and on state visits.

Algeria National Anthem Lyrics

قَسَمًا بِالنَّازِلَاتِ الْمَاحِقَاتْ وَالدِّمَاءِ الزَّاكِيَاتِ الطَّاهِرَاتْ وَالْبُنُودِ اللَّامِعَاتِ الْخَافِقَاتْ فِي الْجِبَالِ الشَّامِخَاتِ الشَّاهِقَاتْ نَحْنُ ثُرْنَا فَحَيَاةٌ أَوْ مَمَاتْ وَعَقَدْنَا الْعَزْمَ أَنْ تَحْيَا الْجَزَائِرْ فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… نَحْنُ جُنْدٌ فِي سَبِيلِ الْحَقِّ ثُرْنَا وَإِلَى اسْتِقْلَالِنَا بِالْحَرْبِ قُمْنَا لَمْ يَكُنْ يُصْغَى لَنَا لَمَا نَطَقْنَا فَاتَّخَذْنَا رَنَّةَ الْبَارُودِ وَزْنَا وَعَزَفْنَا نَغْمَةَ الرَّشَّاشِ لَحْنَا وَعَقَدْنَا الْعَزْمَ أَنْ تَحْيَا الْجَزَائِرْ فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… يَا فِرَنْسَا قَدْ مَضَى وَقْتُ الْعِتَابْ وَطَوَيْنَاهُ كَمَا يُطْوَى الْكِتَابْ يَا فِرَنْسَا اِنَّ ذَا يَوْمُ الْحِسَابْ فَاسْتَعِدِّي وَخُذِي مِنَّا الْجَوَابْ اِنَّ فِي ثَوْرَتِنَا فَصْلُ الْخِطَابْ وَعَقَدْنَا الْعَزْمَ أَنْ تَحْيَا الْجَزَائِرْ فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… نَحْنُ مِنْ أَبْطَالِنَا نَدْفَعُ جُنْدًا وَعَلَى أَشْلَائِنَا نَصْنَعُ مَجْدًا وَعَلَى أَرْوَاحِنَا نَصْعَدُ خُلْدًا وَعَلَى هَامَاتِنَا نَرْفَعُ بَنْدًا جَبْهَةُ التَّحْرِيرِ أَعْطَيْنَاكِ عَهْدًا وَعَقَدْنَا الْعَزْمَ أَنْ تَحْيَا الْجَزَائِرْ فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… صَرْخَةُ الْأَوْطَانِ مِنْ سَاحِ الْفِدَا اِسْمَعُوهَا وَاسْتَجِيبُوا لِلنِّدَا وَاكْتُبُوهَا بِدِمَاءِ الشُّهَدَا وَاقْرَأُوهَا لِبَنِي الْجِيلِ غَدَا قَدْ مَدَدْنَا لَكَ يَا مَجْدُ يَدَا وَعَقَدْنَا الْعَزْمَ أَنْ تَحْيَا الْجَزَائِرْ فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا… فَاشْهَدُوا…

Translations are non-official and intended to convey meaning, not replace originals

Analysis

Editorial

The poet Moufdi Zakaria, a Mozabite Berber and veteran of the nationalist underground, wrote Kassaman in the mid-1950s at the request of the leaders of the armed revolution. By the best-known account he wrote it in April 1955, while the French held him in Barberousse Prison in Algiers; historians including Mohamed Abbas say instead that in the summer of 1955 an envoy of the revolution's leadership approached him at his cloth shop in Algiers, and that the poem was written by the next day. After the Egyptian composer Mohamed Fawzi set the words to a martial score (two earlier attempts had been rejected), the poem was officially adopted in 1962, the year Algeria broke from 132 years of French rule. Its five stanzas name France, announce a day of reckoning, and pledge loyalty to the National Liberation Front (FLN), which led the war to victory.

Learn More

National anthem on Wikipedia Official state symbols

Sources & References

Hymne National . Premier Ministère de la République Algérienne (gouvernement officiel)
L'Algérie rétablit un vieux couplet anti-France dans son hymne national . Le Point (2023)

Source & Review

Source status: Official source verified
Translation: Nationalia working translation
Rights status: Third-party rights may apply
Last reviewed: 2026-05-11
Editorial review: AI-assisted editorial review
Editorial owner: Nationalia
Report a correction: rights@nationalia.org

Algeria National Anthem