"Walla Zaman Ya Selahy" () was 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 Europea ...

of the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

(UAR), a federation of

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 Medit ...

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 national anthem until 1979.

History

Prior to being adopted as the UAR's national anthem, it was used as a nationalist song performed by

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum ( ar, أم كلثوم, , also spelled ''Oum Kalthoum'' in English; born Fatima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi, ar, فاطمة إبراهيم السيد البلتاجي, Fāṭima ʾIbrāhīm es-Sayyid el-Beltāǧī, link=no; 31 Dece ...

during the Suez Crisis in 1956, known in Egypt and the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

as the Tripartite Aggression, when Egypt was invaded by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Due to its strongly nationalist lyrics evoking national resistance, the song was played frequently on Egyptian radio during the war, sometimes as often as every 10 minutes. The popularity of the song led to it being adopted as the national anthem of the UAR two years after the establishment of the union. It replaced the former official royal anthem of Egypt " Salam Affandina"(''Salute of our lord,'' سلام افندينا, composed by Giuseppe Pugioli) and the unofficial anthem " Nashid al-Huriyya" (''The Anthem of Freedom'', نشيد الحرية, composed and sung 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 ...

), which were adopted following the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and the abolition of the monarchy, as well as the former national anthem of Syria. The lyrics were written by

Salah Jahin Muhammad Salah Eldin Bahgat Ahmad Helmy (, ), known as "Salah Jaheen" or "Salah Jahin" ( ar, صلاح جاهين, ; December 25, 1930 – April 21, 1986) was a leading Egyptian poet, lyricist, playwright and cartoonist. Life and career Jah ...

, with music by Kamal Al Taweel. It was also used, without words, by Iraq from 1965 to 1981. It was eventually replaced in 1979 for the peace negotiations with Israel by President

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

as Egypt's national anthem by the less militant "

Bilady, Bilady, Bilady "Bilady, Bilady, Bilady...Laky Hoby Wa Fouady" ( ar, بلادي لك حبي وفؤادي; "My homeland, you have my love and my heart"), also known by its incipit, "" (), is the national anthem of Egypt, composed by Sayed Darwish and written by ...

", which continues to be Egypt's national anthem today.Virginia Danielson, "The Voice of Egypt": Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology), p. 243
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Lyrics

References

External links

Anthems of Egypt Historical national anthems United Arab Republic African anthems Asian anthems 1960 songs Umm Kulthum songs {{Egypt-stub