[5] Consequently, a nationalist movement began in the 1920s and gained traction after World War II,[6] when a commitment by the government to grant French Algeria autonomy failed to materialize.

[7] A prominent member of this movement was Moufdi Zakaria,[8] a Mozabite Berber[9] poet affiliated with the Algerian People's Party (PPA).

[1][2] Since he did not have access to paper or writing instruments while incarcerated in Barberousse Prison,[11] Zakaria reportedly wrote the lyrics with his own blood on the walls of his jail cell.

[11] Both the lyrics and music were officially adopted in 1962;[1][2] in that same year, the Évian Accords were signed, paving the way for a referendum in which Algerians overwhelmingly voted in favour of independence, which was duly granted.

Qasaman bi-n-nāzilāti l-māḥiqāt Wa-d-dimāʾi z-zākiyāti ṭ-ṭāhirāt Wa-l-bunūdi l-lāmiʿāti l-khāfiqāt Fi-l-jibāli sh-shāmikhāti sh-shāhiqāt Naḥnu thurnā fa-ḥayātun ʾaw mamāt Wa-ʿaqadnā al-ʿazma ʾan taḥyā l-Jazāʾir Fa-shhadū!

Naḥnu jundun fi sabīli l-ḥaqqi thurnā Wa ʾila stiqlālinā bi-l-ḥarbi qumnā Lam yakun yuṣğā lanā lamā naṭaqnā Fa-ttakhadhnā rannata l-bārūdi waznā.

Yā Firansā, qad maḍā waqtu l-ʿitāb Wa-ṭawaynāhu kamā yuṭwā l-kitāb Yā Firansā ʾinna dhā yawmu l-ḥisāb Fa-staʿiddī wa-khudhī minnā l-jawāb ʾInna fī thawratinā faṣlu l-khiṭāb Wa-ʿaqadnā al-ʿazma ʾan taḥyā l-Jazāʾir Fa-shhadū!

Ṣarkhatu l-ʾawṭāni min sāḥi l-fidā Ismaʿūhā wa-stajībū li-n-nidā Wa-ktubūhā bi-dimāʾi sh-shuhadāʾ Wa-qraʾūhā li-banī l-jayli ğadā.

Qad madadnā laka yā majdu yadā Wa-ʿaqadnā al-ʿazma ʾan taḥyā l-Jazāʾir Fa-shhadū!

From our heroes we shall make an army come to being, From our dead we shall build up a glory, Our spirits shall ascend to immortality And on our shoulders we shall raise the Standard.

Even though "Kassaman" was adopted in 1962, it was not until November of 2008 that an amendment to Article 5 of the Constitution of Algeria was made declaring it as "immutable", given its association with the country's revolution.

[15] It also confirmed that the national anthem comprises all of the song's verses, thus ending the deliberation over whether it was still appropriate to include the unfavourable reference to France in the present day.