Country prays for Zayed’s soul
Throughout the country, residents cutting across race and religion offered prayers for Shaikh Zayed.
In the craggy mountain village of Hatta the local Imam walks past boxed houses and tethered goats, heading to the mosque.
Greeting people as he walks up a dusty road, a battered white sedan comes to a halt and beeps. The Imam climbs in and is driven the rest of the way up.
Men dressed in starched white head to the mosque with their sons to attend Friday prayers the first Friday since the death of Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the last Friday before the holiest day of Ramadan, Laylat Al Qadr, the night of power.
Throughout the country, residents cutting across race and religion offered prayers for Shaikh Zayed.
The Friday sermon soon begins. Over loudspeakers the Imam recalls a saying by the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH): The best leaders are those that love you and you love them, who pray for you and you pray for them.
Prayers are recited and everyone leaves the mosque.
Zuail Khsair, a 72-year-old UAE national, is apparently the second oldest man in this village. The visually impaired elder is filled with tears upon mentioning Shaikh Zayeds name.
May God bless his soul. He was a real statesman who cared for his people and the country. Most of the people my age knew how good he was with his people. I believe that he built the foundation. We need not worry because his successor, President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is like his father.
Khsair saw Shaikh Zayed when he was in his late 40s. He was the most generous man I ever saw.
Khsairs uncle, Mubarak Sbeit, is over 100 years old he thinks, making him the oldest man in Hatta. With a wealth of history to draw on, he tells Gulf News: I cannot imagine this country without its founder. Its a great loss and tragic moment in UAE history. I believe that he was God-chosen because he died during Ramadan.
Ali Hamad Gareeb, the principal of the Shaikh Rashid secondary school, said: We think of him as a father, and of ourselves as his children. Other men standing nearby nod.
Another Syrian national, Samir Najemuddine, works as a translator at the Juma Al Majid for Culture and Heritage, said: His death was a real shock and tragedy for the country. Its true that we are all going to die, its Gods will. But still a person would find it difficult to lose a historic and momentous personality like our father, Shaikh Zayed.
Samir stressed that essayists and writers could endlessly write about Shaikh Zayeds life.
The two classmates, Abdullah Mohammad, 11, and Ahmad Issam, 10, were rushing out of the mosque. They stood in front of an old house and talked about the late president. A white car with an Abu Dhabi licence plate passed by with a Shaikh Zayed poster pasted on the window.
Abdullah grabbed his classmate by his white dishdasha and said: We should get posters like these and paste in our rooms.
With his brown eyes and smart looks, Abdullah said: Shaikh Zayed was the UAEs greatest symbol. He was the UAE. May God bless his soul. We cried so much when he died. I wish I had a chance to see him before he died.
Ahmad said: I loved him so much. But now I am so sad.
The Desert Weeps
A caring Shaikh
Who taught a nation love and kindness
Oh father of the land, her past and present
You gave the land all her splendour
If death is a bridge over which you have crossed
To befriend you in death impatiently we wait
God denies gifts and grants gifts generously
Though never has Allah given
A greater gift than Zayed
Or denied us a more valuable gift
Than Zayed
And never was a nation happier than
When among Zayed
Or wept more than on the loss of Zayed
A.N.N.
