On October 29, 1956, Israel – with support from the UK and France – invaded Egypt with the objective of reopening the Straits of Tiran and the Gulf of Aqaba. The invasion lasted nine days and resulted in Israel occupying the Sinai peninsula and the Gaza Strip until March 1957.
During the war, nationalist fervour spread throughout Egypt as the country's leaders tried to regain control of their land. Artists and musicians also showed their support through their work, but one song in particular became a rallying cry for the country: Umm Kulthum's Wallah Zaman, Ya Silahi.
Translated as Oh, My Weapon, the song was written by poet Salah Jahin and sung by Umm Kulthum during the Suez Canal crisis. It was played daily on radio stations across Egypt – sometimes every 10 minutes due to its immense popularity. The lyrics are patriotic and militant, depicting a person telling their weapon how much it was needed during their struggles.
The first stanza of the song begins this conversation, as Umm Kulthum sings: "It has been a long time, oh my weapon! I long for you in my struggle! Speak and say I am awake, oh war it has been a long time."
In the second stanza, the song begins to evoke soldiers at war and promise of a victory, with the lyrics: "It has been a long time for the soldiers, advancing with thunderous roar, swearing never to return, except with epoch-making victory."
While Umm Kulthum gave life to the song, its lyrics fostered a deeper connection across many Arab countries, with some adopting it as their anthem. Here's a look at how Wallah Zaman, Ya Silahi has endured throughout the years.
United Arab Republic
From 1958 to 1961, Egypt and Syria came together to form a country named the United Arab Republic. Led by Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, the new sovereign state needed its own national anthem.
Wallah Zaman, Ya Silahi, which remained popular since 1958, was adopted by the UAR to become its national anthem, but that only lasted a year because Syria seceded from the union. Egypt then used the tune as its national anthem from 1971 to 1979.
Iraq
Wallah Zaman, Ya Silahi also became Iraq's national anthem, between 1963 and 1981, after the Ba'ath Party adopted the song as they rose to power following a coup against Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qasim. That meant both Iraq and Egypt had the same anthem for several years.
In 2003, after the fall of Saddam Hussein and his government, Iraq adopted an instrumental anthem composed by Lewis Zanbaka and titled Mawtini, which translates as My Homeland. It had been previously adopted between 1958 and 1965. In 2004, it was replaced by another composition, also titled Mawtini, which had been the anthem of Palestine between 1936 and 1996.
Libya
Wallah Zaman, Ya Silahi was also briefly adopted as Libya's national anthem in 1969, as the nation led by Muammar Gaddafi proclaimed itself as the Libyan Arab Republic. Later that year, the anthem was changed to the Egyptian military marching song Allahu Akbar, which remained until 2011. Both Libya and Iraq used it without lyrics.
After 2011, Libya readopted the anthem Libya, Libya, Libya, which it had used between 1951 and 1969. It was composed by Egyptian musician Mohammed Abdel Wahab, who wrote multiple Arab and Egyptian nationalist songs including Ya Masr Tamm Elhana (Oh Egypt, Happiness is Here) and Hobb Elwatan Fard Alayya (Patriotism is my Obligation).
