I’m sick of useless
arguing over everything… important or trivial… starting from our national
causes… territory… Land is honor… International law… rules of setting state
borders… extending Camp David accord to include more Arab states… to other trivial matters like the latest
face expression of Sisi when he was talking… the citizen who needed to go to
the W.C. for he was dying to pee… and many other accounts that exceed empty-meaning
disputes into endless squabbles.
I yearned to listen to
the words and melodies that we used to chant enthusiastically in the past until
our eyes water out of affection. Yearn… a single word but expressive indeed. I
couldn’t find another one to describe what I feel. It’s common among all living
creatures; humans, animals, plants, and even the non-living. In yearning, you
can find hope, pain, love, amiability... you can add whatever you want to the
list.
I yearned to listen to our old
beautiful national anthem; Eslami ya misr[1],
written by Mostafa Saadeq Al-Rafe'ie [2] and composed by Safar Ali[3].
I caught myself repeating:
Be safe, O Egypt; I will sacrifice
There is my hand for you, if the world raised a
hand [to hurt you]
Never you shall yield, ever
I am hoping for tomorrow [to be better]
My heart and my determination are with me for
strife
And to my heart, O Egypt, you are a faith, in
addition to my religion
Safety for you, O Egypt
And peace, O my homeland
If the world threw arrows [at you]
I would shield you by my heart
And be safe in all times[4]
Then I move, heart and soul, to the
genius Riad Al Sunbati [5] whom I believe is underestimated
until our present time, the one who composed the beautiful poem of the great
poet of the Nile Hafez Ibrahim[6];
Egypt speaks about herself[7],
for Om Kulthum[8]
to sing it. He also composed Misr allati fi Khateri[9]
written by Ahmed Ramy[10]
and chanted by Om Kulthum, and later composed Touf w Shouf[11]
written by Abdel-Fattah Mustafa[12]
and again sung by Star of the East; Om Kulthum. Al Sunbati also composed Shams
el-Aseel[13]
written by Bayram el-Tunsi[14]
and chanted again by the legend Om Kulthum.
In “Egypt speaks about herself” poem,
we hear the first epic verses:
All people stood, looking how I build the bases of glory
alone
And the Pyramids’ builders – long ago – spoke for me at
challenge
I am the majesty crown on the head of the East, with its
pearls on my necklace
My glory is deep in history, who has a glory like mine!
If God predestined my death, you wouldn’t see the East
raising his head after me
No one has attacked me and went unpunished, for long, God’s
care is my guard[15]
And now, it’s Ahmed Ramy’s
turn… he wrote:
Egypt that I have always
in my mind and am whispering her name on my tongue
I love her from all my
heart
I wish all those who
believe in her glory would love her like I do
You, my fellow
Egyptians, who love her more than I do!
And here we come to the
epic part… listen to her when she says:
Do not deny her water to
the thirsty and feed every mouth from her welfare
I love her for the great
stance of her people and noble army
Her army that called for
the right of life for all those living over her land
Her army that stood in
face of tyrants calling for her rights
And stood, through his
great history, in face of oppression and tyranny
O you, all her people,
protect her and all who came to her land seeking protection
Defend her so that she
can live and stay safe
O Egypt, you cradle of
prosperity and land of divine spirit
We will always be loyal
and faithful in defending you
Moving from Touf w
Shouf to Shams el-Aseel, we find ourselves standing before a divine
picture drawn by God… simply, it’s Egypt nature:
Go see the paradise in
our land Egypt, go have a look and see
You will find two river
banks welcoming you with palm trees in lines rising high to the sky
Go see the smile of our
sun giving you the best welcome on our land
Go see the breeze
dancing on the Nile wavering surface on the beautiful music of Ney and dafs
Go see the soldiers
protecting our glory against any invader
Go see them building
with their strong will and determination the renaissance of our country
Those whom our land
cherish their steps over her and says those are my sons
They called for freedom
and hence people joined and challenged the impossible
Hope turned into work
and imagined dreams turned into hard working
Go see… this is the
revolution of my country led by Gamal[16]
Now we move from the
Nile picture depicted in words of Abdel-Fattah Mustafa to Bayram’s Nile when he
wrote:
O Nile, Sunset rays made
your palm trees’ foliage turn into golden
A real masterpiece drawn
and reflected on your surface, you beautiful Nile
Ney is played on your
banks and people are swinging lovingly over its magic melody
With cool breeze passing
over your surface
And now we come to
another pearl; our national anthem written by Younes el-Kadi[17], composed by Sayed
Darwish[18], and later rearranged by
Muhammed Abdel Wahab[19]:
O my country
You have all my love and
heart
You Egypt, mother of
nations
You are my aim and goal
On all living people
Your Nile always had the
upper hand
O Egypt, you land of
wealth
You had the ancient
glory
My purpose is to defend
you against your enemies
In this, I depend on God
O Egypt, you most
precious pearl
Always standing high
throughout your long history
O my country, always
live free and safe
And be safe despite
enemies
Finally, I say… enough
arguing… enough destroying everything… enough spreading ugliness day and night…
and let us enjoy and daydream for some time.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was
published in Almasry alyoum newspaper on April 20, 2016.
To see the Arabic
article, go to:
#almasry_alyoum#ahmed_elgam
mal#Egypt#Om_Kulthum#Nile#Riad_alsunbati#sayed_darwish#abdelfattah_mustafa#bayram_eltunsi#muhammed_abdelwahab#Egypt_speaks_about_herself#ahmed_ramy#hafez_ibrahim#safar_ali# Mostafa_Saadeq_Al-Rafe'ie#Younis_elkadi#national_anthem
[1] Eslami
ya Misr: ("Be safe, O
Egypt"; Arabic: اسلمي يا مصر) was the national
anthem of Egypt from 1923 to 1936. Written by the Egyptian poet, Mostafa Saadeq Al-Rafe'ie, and the music is composed by Safar Ali. It is
adopted currently as the song of the Egyptian Police Academy. (Source: Wikipedia)
[2] Mostafa Saadeq Al-Rafe'ie:
(Arabic: مصطفى صادق الرافعي) was an Egyptian poet of
Syrian origin, born in Egypt on 1 January 1880, and died in May 1937 in Tanta, Egypt. Mostafa
Saadeq Al-Rafe'ie became deaf after contracting typhoid fever.
Despite his hearing disability and the fact that he was self-taught, he became
one of the most famous Arab poets of
the early twentieth century. He composed the words of the Egyptian national
anthem Eslami ya Misr, adopted between
1923 and 1936. The words of the Tunisian
national anthem are largely the work of Al-Rafe'ie. (Source:
Wikipedia)
[3] Safar Ali: (Arabic: صفر علي) (1884 – 1962) an
Egyptian composer, participated in establishing the first institute for Arabic
music. He composed the old national anthem of Eslami ya misr. (Wikipedia)
[5] Riad
Mohammed Al Sunbati: (Arabic: رياض محمد السنباطي) (30 November 1906 – 10 September 1981) is a 20th-century
Egyptian composer and musician who is very well known around the Arab world. The number of his lyric works is 539 works in Arab
opera, operetta, cinematic and religious song, poem, Taqtouqa and Mawalia. The
number of song poets who he composed for is more than 120 poets. He composed
for many famous Arab singers like:Umm Kulthum, Asmahan, Warda
Al-Jazairia, Najat Al
Saghira, Mounira El Mahdeya, Fayza Ahmed, Saleh Abdel
Hai, Souad Mohamed, Aziza Jalal (who
was the last singer to sing one of his melodies) and others. (Source:
Wikipedia)
[6] Hafez
Ibrahim: (Arabic: حافظ إبراهيم) (1871–1932) was
known as the Poet of the Nile, and sometimes the Poet
of the People, as his writings were
widely revered by ordinary Egyptians. His poetry was often about subjects with
which the majority of Egyptians were familiar, such as poverty and the politics
of foreign occupation. He was one of several Egyptian poets that revived Arabic poetry during the latter
half of the 19th century. While still using the classical Arabic system of
meter and rhyme, these poets wrote to express new ideas and feelings unknown to
the classical poets. Hafez is noted for writing poems on political and social
commentary. (Source: Wikipedia)
[8] Om
Kulthum: (Egyptian Arabic: أم كلثوم) on an
uncertain date (December 31, 1898 or May 4, 1904) and who died February 3,
1975, was an internationally famous Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress active from the
1920s to the 1970s. She is given the honorific title, Kawkab
al-Sharq كوكب الشرق ("Star of the East") in Arabic. Known for her extraordinary vocal ability and style,
Om Kulthum was one of the greatest and most influential Arab singers of the
20th century. (Source: Wikipedia)
[10] Ahmed
Ramy: (Arabic: أحمد رامى) (August 9, 1892 -
June 5, 1981) was an Egyptian poet, songwriter and translator. He is best known for
writing lyrics for the Egyptian singers Umm Kalthoum and Mohammed Abdel Wahab. Rami was also a translator. His works include
translations of several of Shakespeare's plays and the quatrains of the Persian poet Omar Khayyám. Ramy also played a leading role in developing the
Arabic song, using simple language to express his sublime themes. He was named
"Poet of the youth" in recognition of his considerable contributions
to the Arabic song. (Source: Wikipedia)
[12] Abdel-Fattah Mustafa:
(Arabic: عبد الفتاح مصطفى)
(1924 – 1984) was a prominent songwriter and writer of radio series and
programs. (Source: Wikipedia)
[14] Mahmud Bayram el-Tunsi: (Arabic: بيرم التونسي;
born in 1893 in Alexandria, Egypt - died 1961) was an Tunisian-Egyptian poet
who was exiled from Egypt by the British for his nationalist poetry.
Bayram el-Tunsi received his education at religious (Muslim)
schools. However, he learned the art of poetry by listening to oral
presentations in the form known as zajal. In 1919, the year
of the first Egyptian revolution, he began to
publish his poetry in the journal Issues. These satirical ballads,
based on the traditional zajal form, were critical of both the British
occupation and the Egyptian monarchy, which was referred to as a puppet. This
led to his exile from Egypt, which he spent in France and Tunisia.
El-Tunsi returned to Egypt in 1938, where he continued to publish political
poetry. Bayram el-Tunsi coined the term Adab al-iscrif (the
literature of rescue) to describe "the successful rejection of external
threats, the reorientation and redistribution of power in society, and
construction of a strong and independent nation. In addition to zajal, of which
Bayram el-Tunsi was considered a master, he was proficient with maqama which
he preferred in much of his later output. Among those who have been influenced
by Bayram el-Tunsi were Salah Jahin and Ahmed Fouad
Negm. (Source: Wikipedia)
http://blogs.transparent.com/arabic/egypt-speaks-about-herself-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%AB-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D9%86%D9%81%D8%B3%D9%87%D8%A7/
[17] Younis el-Kadi: (Arabic: يونس القاضي) (1888 – 1969)
writer of the current Egyptian national anthem. He also wrote more than 58
theatre plays having many genres. (Source: Wikipedia)
[18] Sayed
Darwish: (Arabic: سيد درويش) (17 March 1892 – 15
September 1923) was an Egyptian singer and composer who was considered the father of Egyptian
popular music and one of Egypt's
greatest musicians and its single greatest composer. Darwish died of a heart
attack in Alexandria on 15 September 1923 (aged 31). He is still regarded as a
noble and adored figure in Egyptian history. (Source: Wikipedia)
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