REST YOUR SPIRIT

The National Anthem of the Republic of Albania
"Pledge to the Flag"

United around the flag
With one desire and one goal
Let us pledge our word of honor
To fight for our salvation
Only he who is a born traitor
Averts from the struggle
He who is brave is not daunted
But falls - a martyr to the cause
With arms in hand we shall remain
To guard our fatherland round about
Our rights we will not bequeath
Enemies have no place here
For the Lord Himself has said
That nations vanish from the earth
But Albania shall live on
Because for her, it is for her that we fight

The Albanian version

HYMNI KOMBETAR
"Betimi mbi flamur"

Rreth flamurit te perbashkuar
Me nje deshire dhe nje qellim
Te gjithe Atij duke iu betuar
Te lidhim besen per shpetim
Prej lufte vec ay largohet
Qe eshte lindur tradhetor
Kush eshte burre nuk friksohet
Po vdes, po vdes si nje deshmor
Ne dore armet do t'i mbajme
Te mbrojme Atdheun ne cdo vend
Te drejtat tona ne s'i ndajme
Ketu armiqte s'kane vend
Se Zoti vet e tha me goje
Qe kombe shuhen permbi dhe
Po Shqiperia do te rroje
Per te, per te luftojme ne

Note:

The Albanian anthem was written by the Albanian poet Asdreni (an accronym for Aleks Stavre Drenova), who was born in 1872 and died in 1947. The original title of the hymn was "Betimi mi flamur", or "Pledge to the Flag". The hymn was first published as a poem in Liri e Shqiperise (Freedom of Albania), an Albanian newspaper in Sofia, Bulgaria, in its issue of April 21, 1912. Later that year it appeared in a volume of collected poems by Asdreni, under the title 'Endra e Lot' (Dreams and Tears), which was published in Bucharest. The official anthem is two verses shorter than the original poem. The music of the anthem was composed by the Romanian composer Ciprian Porumbescu. The original text in Albanian is in rhyme and meter. Next to it is an English translation in free verse, which is adapted from a translation found in an Albanian Bulletin published in USA