What Is The Syrian National Anthem: English Translation, Original Lyrics And History

Sally Polly February 08, 2022 | 06:29

"Ḥumāt ad-Diyār" is the national anthem of the Syrian Arab Republic, with lyrics written by Khalil Mardam Bey and the music by Mohammed Flayfel. If you want to learn more about the anthem's original lyrics, history, and English translation.

What Is The Syrian National Anthem: English Translation, Original Lyrics And History. Photo: Wikipedia

"Ḥumāt ad-Diyār" (Arabic: حُمَاةَ الدِّيَارِ, lit. 'Guardians of the Homeland', Syriac: ܢܛܘܪ̈ܝ ܐܬ݂ܪܘ̈ܬ݂ܐ) is the national anthem of the Syrian Arab Republic, with lyrics written by Khalil Mardam Bey and the music by Mohammed Flayfel, who also composed the national anthem of the Iraq as well as many other Arab folk songs.

The national anthem of Syria was adopted in 1936; the composers of the music also composed many other Arab folk songs of the Middle East region. During the time that Syria was a member of the United Arab Republic (1958-1961), the UAR anthem was in use, which consisted of the then-Egyptian anthem followed by “Ħumāt ad-Diyār”. Once Syria left the union, the anthem was again performed on its own.

Here are Syrian national anthem’s history, original lyrics and English translation.

History of Syrian national anthem

It was adopted in 1938 after a national competition was held by Hashim al-Atassi's nationalist government to choose a state anthem for the new republic two years after the Franco–Syrian Treaty of Independence was signed which gave Syria limited autonomy and future independence. The anthem was initially set to lose the competition, but it later won the competition after it gained rapid popularity amongst the Syrian populace which put pressure on the competition's committee to reconsider its decisions, and eventually the anthem won and was adopted by the government as Syria's national anthem.

It temporarily fell from use when Syria joined the United Arab Republic (UAR) with Egypt in 1958. It was decided that the national anthem of the UAR would be a combination of the then-Egyptian national anthem and "Ħumāt ad-Diyār". When Syria seceded from the union in 1961, "Humat ad-Diyar" was completely restored and has been used ever since despite the anthem's usage being disputed between the ruling Ba'ath government and the opposition prior to the start of the civil war in 2011.

The Syrian national anthem is divided into four quatrain stanzas, each containing four lines. The rhyme scheme used is an Arabic form called "Ruba'i", where each stanza has the same final rhyme in its component lines, giving the following rhyme scheme in the anthem: AAAA, BBBB, CCCC, DDDD. All of the lines in the state anthem consist each of 11 syllables, all of which have the same system of scansion, which is as follows: / ˘ / ˘ / ˘ / where is an intermediate stress, / is a strong stress, and ˘ is unstressed. Although for simplicity an alternative stress scheme is offered which does not recognize intermediate stresses, and that scheme is: / / ˘ / / ˘ / / ˘ / /. In either case there are 11 syllables per line, and the ruba'i rhyme scheme.

Lyrics of Syrian national anthem

The Syrian national anthem is divided into four stanzas, each pertaining to a different and unique aspect of Syria from the remaining stanzas. Although the name of the anthem is "Guardians of the Homeland", which is a metaphor for the Syrian military, only the first stanza in fact talks about said army. The stanza breakdown is as follows: The first stanza is about Syria's army, and its role in defending the nation and in defending the citizens' integrity and Arabness. The second stanza is about Syria's scenery and terrain, where it talks about Syria's plains, mountains, and sunlit skies. The third stanza is about Syria's people, their hopes, martyrs, and flag. The fourth stanza talks about Syria's history, from its past and present to its future.

Arabic lyrics (Arabic script) of The Syrian National Anthem

حـماةَ الـديارِ عليكمْ سـلامْ

أبَتْ أنْ تـذِلَّ النفـوسُ الكرامْ

عـرينُ العروبةِ بيتٌ حَـرام

وعرشُ الشّموسِ حِمَىً لا يُضَامْ

ربوعُ الشّـآمِ بـروجُ العَـلا

تُحاكي السّـماءَ بعـالي السَّـنا

فأرضٌ زهتْ بالشّموسِ الوِضَا

سَـماءٌ لَعَمـرُكَ أو كالسَّـما

رفيـفُ الأماني وخَفـقُ الفؤادْ

عـلى عَـلَمٍ ضَمَّ شَـمْلَ البلادْ

أما فيهِ منْ كُـلِّ عـينٍ سَـوادْ

ومِـن دمِ كـلِّ شَـهيدٍ مِـدادْ؟

نفـوسٌ أبـاةٌ ومـاضٍ مجيـدْ

وروحُ الأضاحي رقيبٌ عَـتيدْ

فمِـنّا الوليـدُ و مِـنّا الرّشـيدْ

فلـمْ لا نَسُـودُ ولِمْ لا نشـيد؟

Arabic lyrics (Romanization) of The Syrian National Anthem

1. Humāta d-diyāri alaykum salām

Abat an tazilla n-nufūsu l-kirām

Arīnu l-urūbati baytun harām

Wa-arshu sh-shumūsi himan lā yudām

Rubū’u sh-sha’āmi burūju l-‘ala

Tuhāki s-samā’a bi-āli s-sana

Fa-ardun zahat bi-sh-shumūsi l-wida

Samā’un la-‘amruka aw ka-s-sama

2. Rafīfu l-‘amāni wa-khafqu l-fu’ād

Alā alamin damma shamla l-bilād

Amā fī-hi min kulli aynin sawād

Wa min dami kulli shahīden midād

Nufūsun ubātun wa mādin majīd

Wa-rūhu l-adāhi rāqībun atīd

Fa-min-na l-walīdu wa-min-na r-rashīd

Fa-lim lā nasūdu wa-lim lā nashīd

The Syrian National Anthem in English translation

1. Defenders of the realm,

Peace on you;

Our proud spirits will

Not be subdued.

The abode of Arabism,

A hallowed sanctuary;

The seat of the stars,

An inviolable preserve.

2. Syria’s plains are

Towers in the heights,

Resembling the sky

Above the clouds.

A land resplendant

With brilliant suns,

Becoming another sky,

Or almost a sky.

Lyrics video of Syrian national anthem

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