You can see her among Egyptian girls' styles.
Her rosy lips like Tharia's when she smiles.
Her eyes glow like Thania's, twin stars shine,
Her wavy hair cascades, parted to the left, neatly in line.
With the sweetest hairstyle, she seems like Kamal's bride,
Her deep golden wheat skin mirrors Khadra's pride.
Her tenderness, as breeze, shows Sawsan's grace.
Blush roses on her cheeks, painting a glimmering face.
Oh my God, truly, she is a masterpiece.
Her photo moves from hand to hand, hearts aspiring peace.
A gaze of pity towards her youth,
While those unaware wonder about truth.
Djamila's fate, a truth, can not be silenced to set her free.
Djamila from Algeria, the land by the Mediterranean sea.
Proudly, knights of legends, our brethren sharing the Arab identity.
A flag planted, fluttering on the peak, symbol of fidelity.
Those abandoning their homes, comfort, and warmth.
Standing firm for justice, to live a dignity's worth.
A rebel from the people's heart, who hates the wrongs, brave and true.
She loves Algeria, songs, buildings, gardens, and children, too.
Djamila's fate lies beyond all imagination's might,
She runs while bleeding,O wound, endure the plight.
Locals count the days, and my love for Algeria exceeds worship.
Cut and run, with a bullet in her shoulder, bones shattered in hardship.
She bled, ran, until she crumbled from strain.
The attack dogs caught her, yet she never surrendered despite the pain.
Yet she never spilled, despite torture, crucifixion, and relentless force.
Oh, the sorrow for the youth, trapped in dogs' jaws, with no remorse.
They wrote torment upon her, where wedding vows should have been.
The world spins, and the eye has silently seen.
In her picture, her eyes, like Thania's, appeared.
Fading lips that once laughed like Tharia's, that now disappeared.
Her wavy hair, parted from the left side,
It was soaked in blood rather than cascading like Kamal's bride.
The apple of her mother’s eye, the sprite of strife,
Djamila’s fate is a load that even mountains can not strive.
A single string from the violin's heart wailed in the anthem's prelude for her,
The remaining strings screamed without tears, reaching the throats of the masses everywhere
Before the courthouse door, the crowd stands still, singing a thunderous song,
While judges, a ruthless band, with hearts of stone, their judgment wrong.
As if upon their eyes, a haze,
A blood upon their hands, ablaze.
They listen to the songs, as in a distant land, so wide,
What good are meanings in mind, so dark and blind?
Through endless nights, the guillotine is whetted, chains are drawn,
While in her cell, she waits till dawn.
Throughout the night, the battles rage within the mountain’s stronghold deep,
And Jamila, through the storm and cage, lives on hope, her soul to keep.
O hero, move forward with the rifle in your hand,
Let the fire ignite, for the battle will stand.
For Djamila, her fate is naught but never to give up.
No escape from striving, nothing but to rise up.
-Written by Salah Jaheen, a leading Egyptian poet, lyricist, playwright, and cartoonist.
-Translated by Menna Abd-Eldaiem
Translator and Poetess
-Djamila Bouhired is an Algerian nationalist militant who opposed the French colonial rule of Algeria as a member of the National Liberation Front.