by
Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Nous sommes venus des grands sables
Language: French (Français) after the Arabic (العربية)
Nous sommes venus des grands sables,
où naît le Simoun.
Nos chevaux enfonçaient jusqu'aux genoux dans de l'or.
Des astres, énormes commes des fruits,
nous indiquaient, la nuit, notre route.
Nous sommes venus des grands sables,
où naissent les lions.
Le jour, nos boucliers étaient des soleils en marche.
La nuit, nos lances étaient fleuries d'étoiles.
Nos compagnons qui sont tombés, nous les avons ensevelis debout,
la face vers l'Occident.
Nous sommes venus des grands sables,
où naquirent les Pharaons,
et leurs mausolées ne nous ont pas fait détourner la tête.
Nous sommes venus des grands sables,
où verdoient des oasis
plus belles que les Jardins du Paradis,
et leurs délices ne nous ont pas retenues.
Nous sommes venus des grands sables,
où l'on entend la voix de Dieu.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• A. Bonhomme A. Bonhomme sets stanzas 1-2, 4-5
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotes
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le jardin des caresses, [Paris] H. Piazza, 1921, pages 10-11.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2024-10-27
Line count: 20
Word count: 135
We have come from the great sands
Language: English after the French (Français)
We have come from the great sands,
where the Simoom is born.
Our horses sank up to their knees in gold.
Stars as big as fruits
showed us our route at night
We have come from the great sands,
where lions are born.
During the day, our shields were suns on the march.
At night, our spears were abloom with stars.
Our fallen comrades we have buried upright,
their faces towards the East.
We have come from the great sands,
where the Pharaohs were born,
and their mausoleums did not make us turn our heads.
We have come from the great sands,
where oases grow green,
more beautiful than the Gardens of Paradise,
and their delights did not hold us back.
We have come from the great sands,
where one hears the voice of God.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotes
Translations of titles:
"Chant des Guerriers" = "Song of the Warriors"
"Le chant des guerriers" = "The Song of the Warriors"
Note for stanza 1, line 2, "Simoom": a hot, dry, sometimes deadly wind that blows in the Sahara and desert areas of the Near East. Its name comes from an Arabic root meaning "poison."
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
Based on:
Go to the general view
This text was added to the website: 2026-02-25
Line count: 20
Word count: 141
