Nous sommes venus des grands sables, 
  où naît le Simoun.
 ... 
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 les étoiles.
Nos compagnons qui sont tombés, nous les avons ensevelis debout, 
la face tournée vers l'Occident.

 ... 

Nous sommes venus des grands sables, 
    où verdoient les oasis 
plus belles que les Jardins du Paradis,
leurs délices ne nous ont pas retenues.

Nous sommes venus des grands sables, 
où l'on entend la voix de Dieu.

We have come from the great sands,
where the Simoom is born.
 ... 
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 the stars.
Our fallen comrades we have buried upright,
their faces turned towards the East.

 ... 

We have come from the great sands,
where the oases grow green,
more beautiful than the Gardens of Paradise,
their delights did not hold us back.

We have come from the great sands,
where one hears the voice of God.

Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,4-5 of the original text.

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.
  
  
  

Based on:

• a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le Chant des guerriers", appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 8, first published 1921
  • Go to the text page.

Based on:

• a text in Arabic (العربية) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist  [text unavailable]
  • Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2026-02-25
Line count: 20
Word count: 141