| English: God Is the Greatest | |
|---|---|
| الله أكبر | |
 Sheet music | |
Former military anthem of the  Egyptian Armed ForcesFormer national anthem of  Libya | |
| Lyrics | Mahmoud El-Sherif, 1955 |
| Music | Abdalla Shams El-Din, 1954 |
| Adopted | 1 September 1969 |
| Relinquished | 20 October 2011 |
| Preceded by | "Walla Zaman Ya Selahy" (Egypt) |
| Succeeded by | "Libya, Libya, Libya" (Libya) |
| Audio sample | |
Allahu Akbar | |
"Allahu Akbar" (Arabic:الله أكبر,lit. 'God Is the Greatest') is an Egyptianpro-militarypatriotic song composed by songwriter Abdalla Shams El-Din in 1954 and written by poet Mahmoud El-Sherif in 1955. It was first used by theEgyptian Armed Forces as amarching song during theSuez Crisis in 1956. The song was also used as thenational anthem ofLibya under Muammar Gaddafi from 1969 to 2011.
"Allahu Akbar" was originally anEgyptian militarymarching song which became popular inEgypt andSyria during theSuez Crisis.[1] The lyrics were written by Mahmoud El-Sherif, and the music was composed by Abdalla Shams El-Din. The song continues to be popular among theArab world.
"Allahu Akbar" was adopted as the official national anthem of theLibyan Arab Republic on 1 September 1969, by Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi, showing his hopes of uniting theArab world. "Allahu Akbar" replaced the previous national anthem "Libya, Libya, Libya", which had been used by theKingdom of Libya since its independence in 1951.
When the Libyan Arab Republic became theSocialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on 2 March 1977, "Allahu Akbar" remained the national anthem of Libya. However, when Libya and Egypt broke offdiplomatic relations following the latter's1979 peace treaty with Israel, the Egyptian origins of the national anthem were no longer mentioned by official government sources.[2]
In 2011, theNational Transitional Council again adopted "Libya, Libya, Libya" as the national anthem of Libya, following thecivil war andkilling of Muammar Gaddafi.Gaddafi loyalists continued to use the anthem.
| Arabic | Transliteration | IPA transcription | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
الله أكبر الله أكبر | Allāhu akbar! Allāhu akbar! | ɑlˁ.lˁɑː.hʊ æk.bɑr ɑlˁ.lˁɑː.hʊ æk.bɑr | God is the greatest! God is the greatest! |
الله أكبر الله أكبر | Allāhu Akbar! Allāhu Akbar! | ɑlˁ.lˁɑː.hʊ æk.bɑr ɑlˁ.lˁɑː.hʊ æk.bɑr | God is the greatest! God is the greatest! |
الله أكبر الله أكبر | Allāhu akbar! Allāhu akbar! | ɑlˁ.lˁɑː.hʊ æk.bɑr ɑlˁ.lˁɑː.hʊ æk.bɑr | God is the greatest! God is the greatest! |
الله أكبر | Allāhu akbar! | ɑlˁ.lˁɑː.hʊ æk.bɑr | God is the greatest! |
