Afghan National Anthem

The “Afghan National Anthem”  was adopted and officially announced as such by a Loya Jirga in May 2006. According to article 20 of the Afghan constitution, the national anthem shall be in Pashto with the mention of “God is Greatest” as well as the names of the various tribes of Afghanistan.^[1] The lyrics were written by Abdul Bari Jahani and the music was written by German-Afghancomposer Babrak Wassa [de].^[2]

History:

Afghanistan’s first national anthem was adopted during its period as a monarchy. It was instrumental and had no lyrics.^[3]

National anthem (1943–1973)

This was Afghanistan’s second national anthem, during when it was a monarchy.^[4]

Lyrics

A national anthem was adopted in 1973 after the abolition of the Afghan monarchy, when the Republic of Afghanistan was set up by President Daoud Khan.^{[citation needed]} Its lyrics were written by Abdul Rauf Benawa and the music was composed by Abdul Ghafoor Breshna.^[5]

National anthem (1978–1992)

Another national anthem was adopted after the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was set up in 1978. Its lyrics were written by Sulaiman Layeq on behalf of the government of the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan(PDPA) headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki, who decided to change the national symbols after the Marxist coup d’état of 1978.^[6][7][8] The music was composed by Jalīl Ghahlānd and was arranged by Ustad Salim Sarmad.^[9][10] It is known alternatively by the title of “Garam shah lā garam shah” (English: “Be Ardent, Be More Ardent”), which is also the song’s incipit. Like many national anthems, it was sometimes sung abbreviated with only the chorus and the first stanza. In 1987, Afghanistan officially abandoned communism but this song was kept as the national anthem until 1992, when it was discontinued.

Lyrics

National anthem (1992–1996)

From 1992 to 2006, Afghanistan used a song composed in 1919 by Ustad Qasim as its national anthem.^[11][12][13] It is also known alternatively by the title “Fortress of Islam, Heart of Asia” (Persian: قلعه اسلام قلب اسیا‎), which is also the song’s incipit.^[14][15][16]

Lyrics:

During the late 1990s, the Islamic Emarat of Afghanistan under the Taliban took control over most of Afghanistan from the UN-recognized government and ruled most of the country until late 2001. The Taliban outlawed music throughout the territory that they controlled, which consisted of most of the country.

As such, most of Afghanistan practically was left without a national anthem during that time, until late 2001 when the Taliban was overthrown and the UN-recognized government was re-instituted. The song was reintroduced by the new transitional government of Afghanistan in 2002;^[17] it remained such when the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was established in 2004 and was used by the latter until 2006.^[18][19]