"Arḍu l-Furātayni" (), also known as the "Land of The Two Rivers", "Ardulfurataini Watan" or "Ardulfurataini", 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 European ...
of
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
from 1981 to 2003, during the Ba'athist regime of
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
.
History
It was adopted in 1981, written by
Shafiq al-Kamali (who died in 1984) with music by
Walid Georges Gholmieh.
The lyrics make mention of important people in Iraqi history, such as
Saladin
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
,
Harun al-Rashid
Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...
, and
al-Muthanna ibn Haritha
Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha al-Shaybani () was a Muslim Arabs, Arab General officer, general in the Rashidun army, army of the Rashidun Caliphate.
Career
Al-Muthanna was a commander of the Muslim Arabs in al-Hira, from which they were conducting raid ...
, with the last verse extolling
Ba'athism.
In shortened performances, the chorus was played twice, preceded by an instrumental introduction. Other abridged performances had the chorus twice, then the first verse once, concluding with the chorus performed twice. In full performances, the chorus was sung first twice, then each verse once with the chorus repeated twice in between, then the chorus sung again twice at the end.
After the ousting of
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
's Ba'athist regime in 2003,
the former national anthem of Iraq from the late 1950s and early 1960s, "
Mawtini" (not to be confused with the current Iraqi national anthem of the same name) was reintroduced on a provisional basis. That was replaced in 2004 by the new Iraqi government with a new national anthem, also called "
Mawtini", which is currently in use today.
Lyrics
See also
*
List of historical national anthems
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
External links
* (in MP3 format)
"Ardulfurataini Watan"(in MIDI format)
"Ardulfurataini Watan"(in MIDI format)
Coldstream Guards performance
{{Authority control
Asian anthems
Historical national anthems
Ba'athist Iraq
Music of Iraq
National symbols of Iraq
Songs about Iraq