Mawtini

This article is about the Arabic poem. For the former Iraqi national anthem, see Mawtini (L. Zanbaka song).

Mawṭinī

English: My Homeland
موطني
Arabic lyrics of the national anthem
Former national anthem of Palestine National anthem of Iraq
Lyrics	ʾIbrāhīm Ṭūqān, 1934
Music	Muḥammid Flayfil, 1934
Adopted	1936 (by Palestine) 2004 (by Iraq)
Preceded by	"Mawtini" (Iraq)
Succeeded by	"Fida'i" (Palestine)
Audio sample
U.S. Navy Band instrumental version (two verses) file help

"Mawṭinī" (Arabic: موطني, lit. 'My Homeland') is an Arabic national poem by the Palestinian poet Ibrahim Tuqan, composed by the Lebanese musician Mohammed Flayfel in 1934, and is a popular patriotic song among the Arab people, and the official national anthem of the Republic of Iraq.

Mawtini was adopted as Iraq's national anthem in 2004. The song formerly served as an unofficial anthem of Palestinians and other peoples of the Middle East for much of the 20th century. In 1996, Palestine formally adopted it as the official national anthem. Though it has since been superseded by an official national anthem there, many Palestinians still identify strongly with it and consider it the unofficial national anthem of their country. It is considered one of the Arab national anthems, including two periods where it was the national anthem of Iraq.

Many Arab artists have re-sung the anthem with new distributions, such as Elissa, Christina Sawaya, and Faia Younan in a video clip that depicted the Syrian civil war.

History

U.S. military band performing "Mawtini" in 2009

It is a popular poem written by the Palestinian poet ʾIbrāhīm Ṭūqān c. 1934 and composed by the Lebanese composer Muḥammid Flayfil. It served as Palestine's de facto national anthem from its inception to 1996 when it was officially replaced by "Fidā'ī". However, many Palestinians still identify with it along with "Fida'i" and consider the former a sort of unofficial second national anthem of their country.

In 2004, it was re-adopted as a national anthem, this time by Iraq, on the order of Coalition Provisional Authority chief Paul Bremer as the national anthem of Iraq. It replaced "Mawṭinī" (of no relation to the current national anthem), which in turn replaced the old national anthem "Arḍulfurātayni", which had been in use since 1981 and was thus associated with Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist regime.

Background

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, after it became a republic, Iraq used a national anthem also called "Mawṭinī", composed by Lewis Zanbaka. Though it shares the same name as the current Iraqi national anthem, it is a different song altogether. Unlike the current Iraqi national anthem, this version is instrumental and has no lyrics.

After Iraq's Ba'athist regime was deposed in 2003, the old "Mawṭinī" formerly used as the Iraqi national anthem during the late 1950s and early 1960s was brought back and used temporarily as an interim national anthem until it was replaced by the current "Mawṭinī" in 2004.

Lyrics

Arabic original	Transliteration	English translation
١ مَوْطِنِيْ مَوْطِنِيْ اَلْجَلَالُ وَالْجَمَالُ وَالسَّنَاءُ وَالْبَهَاءُ فِيْ رُبَاكْ فِيْ رُبَاكْ وَالْحَيَاةُ وَالنَّجَاةُ وَالْهَنَاءُ وَالرَّجَاءُ فِيْ هَوَاكْ فِيْ هَوَاكْ هَلْ أَرَاكْ هَلْ أَرَاكْ 𝄇 سَالِماً مُنَعَّماً وَ غَانِماً مُكَرَّماً 𝄆 هَلْ أَرَاكْ فِيْ عُلَاكْ تَبْلُغُ السِّمَاكْ تَبْلُغُ السِّمَاكْ مَوْطِنِي مَوْطِنِيْ ٢ مَوْطِنِيْ مَوْطِنِيْ اَلشَّبَابُ لَنْ يَّكِلَّ هَمُّهُ أنْ يَّسْتَقِلَّ أَوْ يَبِيْد أَوْ يَبِيْد نَسْتَقِيْ مِنَ الرَّدَى وَلَنْ نَّكُوْنَ لِلْعِدَى كَالْعَبِيْد كَالْعَبِيْد لَا نُرِيْد لَا نُرِيْد 𝄇 ذُلَّنَا الْمُؤَبَّدَا وَعَيْشَنَا الْمُنَكَّدَا 𝄆 لَا نُرِيْد بَلْ نُعِيْد مَجْدَنَا التَّلِيْد مَجْدَنَا التَّلِيْد مَوْطِنِيْ مَوْطِنِيْ ٣ مَوْطِنِيْ مَوْطِنِيْ اَلْحُسَامُ وَ الْيَرَاعُ لَا الْكَلَامُ وَالنِّزَاعُ رَمْزُنَا رَمْزُنَا مَجْدُنَا وَ عَهْدُنَا وَوَاجِبٌ مِّنَ الْوَفَاء يَهُزُّنَا يَهُزُّنَا عِزُّنَا عِزُّنَا 𝄇 غَايَةٌ تُشَرِّفُ وَ رَايَةٌ تُرَفْرِفُ 𝄆 يَا هَنَاكْ فِيْ عُلَاكْ قَاهِراً عِدَاكْ قَاهِراً عِدَاكْ مَوْطِنِيْ مَوطِنِيْ	I Mawṭinī mawṭinī al-Jalālu wa-l-jamālu wa-s-sanāʾu wa-l-bahāʾu Fī rubāk fī rubāk Wa-l-ḥayātu wa-n-najātu wal-hanāʾu wa-r-rajāʾu Fī hawāk fī hawāk Hal ʾarāk hal ʾarāk 𝄆 Sāliman munaʿʿaman wa-ġāniman mukarraman 𝄇 Hal ʾarāk fī ʿulāk Tabluġu s-simāk tabluġu s-simāk Mawṭinī mawṭinī II Mawṭinī mawṭinī Aš-šabābu lan yakilla hammuhu ʾan yastaqilla ʾAw yabīd, ʾaw yabīd Nastaqī mina r-radā wa-lan nakūna li-l-ʿidāʾ Ka-l-ʿabīd, ka-l-ʿabīd Lā nurīd lā nurīd 𝄆 Ḏullanā l-muʾabbada wa ʿayšanā l-munakkadā 𝄇 Lā nurīd bal nuʿīd Majdanā t-talīd majdanā t-talīd Mawṭinī mawṭinī III Mawṭinī mawṭinī Al-ḥusāmu wa-l-yarāʿu lā l-kalāmu wa-n-nizāʿu Ramzunā ramzunā Majdunā wa ʿahdunā wa-wājibun mina l-wafāʾ Yahuzzunā yahuzzunā ʿIzzunā ʿizzunā 𝄆 Ġāyatun tušarrifu wa rāyatun turafrifu 𝄇 Yā hanāk fī ʿulāk Qāhiran ʿidāk qāhirān ʿidāk Mawṭinī mawṭinī	I My homeland, my homeland, Glory and beauty, sublimity and splendor Are in your hills, are in your hills. Life and deliverance, pleasure and hope Are in your air, are in your air. Will I see you, will I see you? 𝄆 Safely comforted and victoriously honored. 𝄇 Will I see you in your eminence? Reaching to the stars, reaching to the stars My homeland, my homeland. II My homeland, my homeland, The youth will not tire, their goal is your independence Or they die, or they die. We will drink from death, and will not be to our enemies Like slaves, like slaves. We do not want, we do not want 𝄆 An eternal humiliation, nor a miserable life. 𝄇 We do not want, but we will bring back Our storied glory, our storied glory. My homeland, my homeland. III My homeland, my homeland, The sword and the pen, not the talk nor the quarrel Are our symbols, are our symbols. Our glory and our covenant, and a faithful duty Moves us, moves us. Our glory, our glory, 𝄆 Is an honorable cause, and a waving flag. 𝄇 O, behold you, in your eminence, Victorious over your enemies, victorious over your enemies. My homeland, my homeland!

See also

• "as-Salām al-Malakī", the former Iraqi national anthem, used from 1932 to 1958.
• "ʾArḍ ul-Furātayn", the former Iraqi national anthem, used from 1981 to 2003.
• "Humat ad-Diyar", anthem of Syria, also composed by Mohammed Flayfel.

External links

• Information on Mawtini at NationalAnthems.me (archive link)
• Ilham al Madfai – A free download of Iraqi singer Ilham al Madfai's version of "Mawtini" is available at his official website, from the CD "The Voice of Iraq"
• Anthem Original Performance
• Watch Mawtini sung by Algerian youth
• Free download of Mawtini performed by Sgt. Brenda Bushera, a member of the 34th Red Bull Infantry Band
• Listen to a Syrian version