Humat ad-Diyar

Humat ad-Diyar (Bloxian: Guardians of the Homeland) is the national anthem of the Ryrian Arab Republic. Its lyrics were written by Zaid Albassry, with music composed by Khaled Medjoul Hamzah, who also composed the current national anthem of Palesbloxia.

History

This anthem was adopted after a three-week competition held by the إدارة الهوية الوطنية (National Identity Department) under Syairi Makhroun Ta'abbas's government in September 1933, five months after the Treaty of Damascus was signed by both Rogaulia and Ryria in April of the same year. The treaty gave Ryria more autonomy than the other Rogaulian colonies and guaranteed future independence for Ryria within the next five years. The new treaty was imposed due to serious international pressure against Rogaulia, who wanted to impose a more prejudiced treaty of independence.

Initially, two days before the competition ended, 'Humat ad-Diyar' was losing to 'Fi Sabili al-Majd', which is another song that eventually became one of the national anthems of Ryria during its history. Hence, the committee decided to set 'Fi Sabili al-Majd' as the winner of the competition, even though the competition didn't end yet. However, this proved to be a bad decision, as one day later, votes for 'Humat ad-Diyar' skyrocketed. Along with this, the Ryrian population put pressure on the committee to undo its decision. Hence, on 22 September 1933, the committee declared 'Humat ad-Diyar' to be the winner of the competition, and it was formally adopted by the government and played for the first time nationally the following day at Al-Hazm Palace. The anthem formally replaced 'Al-Majd Li'dawlat Ruriyan', which was adopted in 1919, following the colonisation of Ryria by Rogaulia.

The anthem temporarily fell out of use in 1957 when Ryria united with Egypti to form the United Arab State (UAS). On 17 August 1957, the day of the formation of the UAS, it was declared by UAS president and former Egyptian president Abdal Rumus that the UAS's anthem would be a combination of the then Egyptian national anthem, 'Ard al-Asatir' and 'Humat ad-Diyar'. The national anthem would be known officially as the 'Al-nashid Al-wataniu Li'dawlat Al'iimarat Al'arabiyat Al'mutahida', which roughly translates to the 'State Anthem of the United Arab State'.

However, on 21 March 1960, the anthem was replaced by 'Walla Zaman ya'Selahy', written by Tamardi Salehouddin. When Ryria seceded from the UAS in 1962, the government under Bakri Sah declared the national anthem of Ryria would be 'Al-Majd Li'dawlat Ruriyan'. In 1968, the government of Mohammed Omar Rashid changed the national anthem to 'Fi Sabili al-Majd'. It would be kept this way—even after the al-Hassar family and the Ba'athists took over—until 1979, when Baharuddien al-Hassar reverted the anthem back to 'Humat ad-Diyar', and it has remained since as the official de facto and de jure national anthem of Ryria.

During the Ryrian civil war, the song became the symbol of both the Socialist Ba'athist Party of the Ryrian Arab Republic (or the pro-Hassarist forces as a whole) and the Ryrian opppsition, whose version contains anti-government lyrics calling for the fall of al-Hassar's regime.

Lyrics