"Libya, Libya, Libya" ( ar, ليبيا ليبيا ليبيا ), also known as "" ( en, "O my country!"), is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europe ...

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

since 2011; it was previously the national anthem of the

Kingdom of Libya The Kingdom of Libya ( ar, المملكة الليبية, lit=Libyan Kingdom, translit=Al-Mamlakah Al-Lībiyya; it, Regno di Libia), known as the United Kingdom of Libya from 1951 to 1963, was a constitutional monarchy in North Africa which ca ...

from 1955 to 1969. It was composed by

Mohammed Abdel Wahab ''Mohamed Abdel Wahab'' ( ar, محمد عبد الوهاب), also transliterated ''Mohamed Abd El-Wahhab'' (March 13, 1902 – May 4, 1991), was a prominent 20th-century Egyptian singer, actor, and composer. He is best known for his Romantic a ...

, in 1951, with the lyrics being written by .

History

Kingdom of Libya

"Libya, Libya, Libya" was composed by

in 1951 and was originally the national anthem of the

, from its independence in 1951 until 1969 when

King Idris I Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi ( ar, إدريس, Idrīs; 13 March 1890 – 25 May 1983) was a Libyan political and religious leader who was King of Libya from 24 December 1951 until his overthrow on 1 September 1969. He ruled ov ...

was overthrown by a bloodless

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, ...

led by

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, . Due to the lack of standardization of transcribing written and regionally pronounced Arabic, Gaddafi's name has been romanized in various ways. A 1986 column by '' The Straight Dope'' lists 32 spelli ...

. The lyrics were written by Al Bashir Al Arebi.

Libyan Arab Republic

In 1969, Muammar Gaddafi adopted the

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

ian anthem "

Walla Zaman Ya Selahy "Walla Zaman Ya Selahy" () was the national anthem of the United Arab Republic (UAR), a federation of Egypt and Syria, from 1960. Though the UAR disbanded in 1961, Egypt retained it as the official name of the state until 1971, and used its nat ...

" as the national anthem of the newly proclaimed

Libyan Arab Republic Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comm ...

. It was later changed to the

Egyptian military The Egyptian Armed Forces ( arz, القُوّات المُسَلَّحَة المِصْرِيَّة, alquwwat almusalahat almisria) are the military forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egypti ...

marching song "

Allahu Akbar Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", a ...

", which remained the anthem of republic, and later, the

Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comm ...

, until 2011.

Libyan civil war

In 2011, "Libya, Libya, Libya" was declared as the new national anthem of Libya by the

National Transitional Council The National Transitional Council of Libya ( ar, المجلس الوطني الإنتقالي '), sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, was the ''de facto'' government of Libya for a period during and after the Libyan Civil War ...

. "Libya, Libya, Libya" ultimately did become the national anthem of Libya once again, following the

Libyan Civil War Demographics of Libya is the demography of Libya, specifically covering population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, and religious affiliations, as well as other aspects of the Libyan population. The ...

and the

death of Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed leader of Libya, was captured and killed on 20 October 2011 after the Battle of Sirte. Gaddafi was found west of Sirte after his convoys were attacked by NATO aircraft. He was then captured by National Transitional ...

. The verse that glorifies King Idris (shown in italics) has since been discontinued and rewritten to glorify Libyan national hero

Omar al-Mukhtar Omar al-Mukhṭār Muḥammad bin Farḥāṭ al-Manifī ( ar, عُمَر الْمُخْتَار مُحَمَّد بِن فَرْحَات الْمَنِفِي ; 20 August 1858 – 16 September 1931), called The Lion of the Desert, known among ...

, who spearheaded native Libyan resistance against Italian colonization during the

Second Italo-Senussi War The Second Italo-Senussi War, also referred to as the Pacification of Libya, was a conflict that occurred during the Italian colonization of Libya between Italian military forces (composed mainly of colonial troops from Libya, Eritrea, and Soma ...

Lyrics

Current lyrics

The rewritten third verse is not always sung.

Original third verse (1951–1969)

Tune

X:1 L:1/16 Q:3/8=122 M:6/8 I:linebreak $ K:F V:1 z6 z3 A2 G , F6 C z2 B2 A , G6 D z2 G2 A , B2 B A2 G B6 , A z2 A2 B C'2 C' B2 A , C'6 B1 z2 A2 G , B6 A z2 F z D' , C'6 z3 A z D' , C'6 z3 A z D' , C' z2 A z B C'3/2 D'3/2 C'2 B , A z2 G2 A B3/2 C'3/2 A2 G , F z2 G2 G G z2 C'2 C' , C' z2 F2 F F z2 C2 C , F2 F F2 G A3/2 A3/2 G2 F , G6 z3 G2 A , B3/2 B3/2 A2 G B3/2 B3/2 A2 ^G , A z2 z3 z3 C'2 C' , C'3/2 B3/2 A2 B C'3/2 D'3/2 C'2 =B , C'6 z3 C'2 C' , C'2 B A2 B C'2 D' C'2 =B , C' z2 z3 z3 D'2 D' , D'3/2 _E'3/2 D'2 C' C'3/2 D'3/2 C'2 B , A6 z3 D'2 D' , D'2 C' C'2 B B3/2 A3/2 G2 D' , D' z2 z3 z3 D'2 D' , D'2 z C'2 C' C'2 z G2 A , B3/2 C'3/2 B2 A G3/2 B3/2 A2 G , F z2 G2 G G z2 C'2 C' , C' z2 F2 F F z2 z3 , ] %16 w: Yā bi-lā-dī yā bi-lā-dī Bi-ji-hā-dī wa-ji-la-dī Id-fa-ʿī kayd-al a-ʿa-di wal-ʿa-wa-di Wās-la-mī is-la-mī is-la-mī Is-la-mī ṭū-lal-ma-da In-na-nā naḥ-nul-fi-dā Lī-bi-yā Lī-bi-yā Lī-bi-yā Yā bi-lā-dī an-ti Mī-rā-thul-ju-dūd La ra-ʿAl-la-hu ya-dān tam-tad-du lak Fās-la-mī in-nā ʿa-lad-dah-ri ju-nūd La nu-bā-lī in sa-lim-ti man ha-lak Wa-khu-dī min-nā wa-thī-qā-til-ʿu-hūd In-na-nā yā lī-bi-yā lan nakh-di-lak Lan na-ʿud lil qu-yud Qadd ta-ḥar-rar-nā wa-ḥar-rar-nāl-wa-ṭan Lī-bi-yā Lī-bi-yā Lī-bi-yā

Notes

References

External links

MP3 version
{{National Anthems of Africa Libyan music Libyan monarchy National symbols of Libya African anthems Royal anthems National anthem compositions in A-flat major National anthem compositions in F major