Moufdi Zakaria

Mufdi Zakaria (1908-1977) poet of the Algerian revolution, and author of the Algerian national anthem “Qasma”. His name is Sheikh Zakaria bin Suleiman bin Yahya bin Sheikh Suleiman bin Haj Issa. He was born on Friday, Jumada al-Awwal 12, 1326 AH, corresponding to June 12, 1908 AD, in Beni Yazqan, one of the seven palaces of the Mzab Valley, in Ghardaia, in southern Algeria. A colleague of the Mozabite mission and study, Al-Farqad Suleiman Boujannah, nicknamed him: “Mufdi,” so his literary title became Mufdi Zakaria, by which he became famous, and he also signed his poems “Ibn Tumart.” He was a contemporary of well-known Tunisian poets and associated with them, such as the poet Muhammad al-Arabi al-Kabadi and Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi. He began his educational life in the book, in his hometown, where he obtained some religious and language sciences. Then he traveled to Tunisia and completed his studies at the Khaldouniya School, then the Zaytouni School, and after that he returned to his homeland. He had an active participation in the literary and political movement, and when the revolution broke out, he joined it and was the poet of the revolution who sang its songs and a member of the Liberation Front, which caused France to throw him in prison on successive occasions. Then he escaped from it in 1959, so the Front sent him outside the borders, so he toured the Arab world and became known for the revolution. He passed away in Tunisia in 1977, and his body was transported to his hometown, where he became the poet of the revolution.