Mohammed bin Rashid announces new book, opens with letter to Mohamed bin Zayed

Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has announced a new book, 'The Messages', bringing together reflections and personal letters shaped by nearly 60 years of public service.

The book is the second part of Lessons from Life and includes messages addressed to his brothers, children, grandchildren, his team, the people of the UAE and anyone who sees lessons worth reflecting on in his experience.

The collection opens with a letter to President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, whom Sheikh Mohammed describes as his brother, friend and companion on a shared journey.

In announcing the book, Sheikh Mohammed said that individual lives form part of the larger story of their nations and that each generation has a responsibility to leave behind something of value for those who follow.

“Life has taught me that our years are part of the story of our nations, and wisdom lies in adding a chapter worth reading by future generations,” he wrote.

“As I approach nearly 60 years of public service to the nation, I have written a collection of messages to my brothers, my children, my grandchildren, my team, my people, and to everyone who sees in our experience something worthy of reflection.”

Sheikh Mohammed said he wrote the messages because “lives pass, but ideas grow and endure”, adding that there was a responsibility to leave behind lessons that could shorten the road for those who would carry the trust in the future.

The first message in the book is an extensive and personal letter to Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, reflecting on their decades-long relationship, the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE President’s leadership and what Sheikh Mohammed described as the deeper responsibilities of building a nation.

‘A message to my brother Mohamed bin Zayed’

To my brother Mohamed bin Zayed,

To my brother, my friend and my companion on this journey, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

May Allah Almighty protect you, watch over you and guide your steps along the path of goodness.

To the brother with whom I shared the love of Zayed, and in whom I saw Zayed’s wisdom, Zayed’s compassion and Zayed’s foresight.

I have known you, my brother, as a friend, a companion and someone close to my heart.

I have known you as a man of humanity, a leader and a man of wisdom.

I have known you as a leader, an inspiration and a commander of men.

I have known you as a man of your word, a man who takes a stand and a man of principle.

I knew you as a field commander during the liberation of Kuwait and the Kosovo war.

And I knew you, during crises and disasters around the world, as a compassionate and caring man with a passion for doing good.

In your international relations, I knew you as a wise politician and a statesman who earned the world’s respect for his country.

I have known you, my brother, as President of our nation: generous towards your people, a faithful guardian of the future of your children, and compassionate, tolerant and magnanimous towards everyone who lives on your land.

My brother Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

When a little girl leaves her home every day, a child who knows nothing of the corridors of politics or the complexities of economics, and goes to school feeling safe; when she travels through the streets of her country and sees beauty and order; when she reaches her school and sees on its walls that her country has reached space and that its ambitions touch the sky, she begins to dream of what she can become.

She dreams of making her parents proud and of one day raising her country’s flag, like the other heroes of her nation.

When that little girl dreams with certainty, confident that a great future awaits her in her country, we know that you have fulfilled the trust placed in you and realised your dreams for our nation and for our generations.

Instilling confidence, security and optimism in the heart of a little girl is among your greatest achievements, my brother.How fortunate you are to have this nation, my brother, and how fortunate we are to have you.

How fortunate we are to have children who set out for school each day in safety, comfort and peace of mind.

How fortunate you are to have their great dreams and passionate hearts.

And how fortunate you are to be building their future before they are old enough to see it.

My brother Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan,

I watch you, and the world watches you, on your historic journey of leadership.

We watch how you have turned your ambitions into institutions, your ideas into projects and initiatives, and your international relationships into economic, political and investment bridges that bring prosperity to the UAE.

We watch, my brother, how you have elevated education from a public service to a sovereign national priority that helps determine our place in the world.

And how you have transformed wealth into new sectors, industries of the future and an economic foundation for generations of Emiratis.

We watch, my brother, how your country has become wiser than the times it lives in, better prepared for the future than the world around it, and more capable of endurance and resilience than the circumstances surrounding it.

My brother Mohamed bin Zayed,

Life has taught me that cities can be built, skylines can rise and facilities can be constructed, but more important than all of that is the spirit of the nation, the spirit that unites everyone, safeguards stability, inspires generations and awakens the energy of the young.Today, you are that spirit, my brother.

You are the spirit of the nation.

Hearts unite around you, people move forward behind you, the country’s borders are safeguarded under your leadership, and the people rally around you with one heart, one hand and an energetic national spirit.

Life has taught me, my brother, that civilisations do not decline by accident.

They decline when they stop evolving and become satisfied with the achievements of the past.

You inherited a great nation from Zayed, but you did not stop there and you did not become complacent.

You strengthened its stability, diversified its economy, consolidated its relationships and pushed it to keep pace with the new frontiers of human knowledge.

Life has taught me, my brother, that the greatest danger facing nations is not the threats at their borders, but complacency creeping into the minds of their young people when they move from a culture of achievement to a culture of entitlement.

You invested in people.

You taught young people that comfort and luxury do not preserve what previous generations built; that seriousness and discipline are foundations of nation-building; and that prosperity and progress are responsibilities and honours, not privileges or luxuries.

You taught the young, my brother, that what we inherited is not a reward but a trust, one to which we must add before passing the flag to those who come after us.

And you taught them that the goal is not simply to create wealth, but to create generations capable of creating wealth and engineering the future.

My brother Mohamed bin Zayed,

A person is not measured by the authority they possess, but by the responsibilities they bear.

Today, you carry the trust of children in their homes and the dreams in their minds.

You carry the responsibility of building a generation that will continue the journey and preserve its legacy.

Today, you carry the trust of a nation and the responsibility of building a future for generations not yet old enough to see it, a trust you pledged to uphold before God, history and the people.

And we bear witness that you are fulfilling it.We and your people stand with you, my brother, on this great journey, a journey that generations will immortalise, and that history will write in letters of light.

May Allah Almighty bless you with success, protect you and guide your steps along the path of goodness.