The Egyptian Armed Forces is supposed to be for all Egyptians since all Egyptians, regardless of race or religion, are recruited in it. Christian Copts and Arab Muslims serve in that army; and it is supposed to be the best place to bring all peoples of Egypt together. But it seems to be ignoring the presence of the Christian Copts. Time and again, we have seen cases of discrimination and ill-treatment of the Copts in the Egyptian army; even murder that goes without retribution.
Nothing summarises the doctrine of the Egyptian army than its official anthem: and it is racial and religious, full with references for Arabdom and Islamic jihad. What place can the Copts have in such an army? And if the army of the country, which is supposed to unify all in the country, is racist and religionist, what chance that other Egyptian public institutions won’t be?
I translate here into English the anthem and also publish the Arabic version, which they call “nashid al-Jish”. It was written by the Egyptian poet, Farouq Gwaida, and sung by the Egyptian musician, Kamal al-Tawil.
As most Arabic poetry, rhythm is given more weight over meaning, and hence the difficulty in translation and the poverty in the meanings of the poet once translated. But, here is an attempt:
We drew the face of the patrie on the heart,
Palm trees, the Nile and authentic people.
And we protected you, O Egypt, through Time,
So that your youth may remain forever.
On every land we left a mark,
Bastions of light, defending dignity.
O our Arabdom, hearts shall be sacrificed for you,
And with blood the army of al-Kinana[1] shall protect you.
And, O Nile, you shall flow free, unrestrained,
So that your banks shall tell the story of the meaning of the struggle.
And so that for eternity you shall stay an ancient bastion,
By the sincerity of hearts and the resolve of men.
We drew the face of the patrie on the heart,
Palm trees, the Nile and authentic people.
And we protected you, O Egypt, through Time,
So that your youth may remain forever.
The hand of Allah, O Egypt, takes care of your sky,
And in the arena of truth, your call shall rise.
And as long as your army shall protect your protected land,
Your steps shall always be towards victory.
Peace is upon thee if we are to be called,
By the Messenger of Jihad[2] for the day of sacrifice.
And on the Nile your blood is shed,
So that we shall establish for Egypt high status and prosperity.
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[1] An Arabic word for Egypt, meaning either a land close to water or quiver of arrows.
[2] Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam. Jihad is religious war, waged by Muslims against non-Muslims.