Dubai: There are two types of people in this life: those who are just numbers and those who add to life and bring life to others, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, emphasised while remembering the monumental contributions of the UAE’s Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan on his death anniversary.
Sheikh Zayed belonged certainly to the latter category, enriching the lives of his nation and imbuing it with a vision that transcends generations, Sheikh Mohammed said. That is the essence of true immortality, he added.
In a heartfelt post accompanied by a video, Sheikh Mohammed said on his account on X: “May God bless the founder, the leader, the immortal father, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and grant him paradise. May his deeds and the goodness he built for his people be in the scale of his good works.”
In a moving tribute, Sheikh Mohammed recalled a poem he once wrote on the 10th death anniversary of Sheikh Zayed. In the poem, Sheikh Mohammed said: “Rest peacefully after your tireless efforts, my greater father beyond my own. You were more than just a leader to your people; you were a beacon for all Arabs. As the architect of our glory and the captain of our ascent, you embodied the benevolence and noble lineage of a true leader.”
He continued: “To us, you were a king, embodying the piety of a sheikh and the morals of a prophet. The foundations you laid have steadied our land and continue to hold firm. O Khalifa, lead us toward greater heights, above the vast expanses of the heavens.”
'Zayed's legacy will remain alive'
Also on Saturday, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence of the UAE, paid tributes to Sheikh Zayed. In a post on his X account, Sheikh Hamdan said: “May God have mercy on Zayed, the founder of our Union and the architect of our nation.
“On this day and every day, we remember a leader who overcame the impossible and laid the foundation for a nation that embraced its people as a father would.”
He added: “Zayed’s legacy and vision remain alive in our hearts and minds. He is with us in every Emirati achievement and in every project of prosperity and development, reaching both the eastern and western horizons of the world.”
About the Founding Father
Twenty years ago, this day, the UAE lost its Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Born around 1918 in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed was the youngest of the four sons of Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1922 to 1926.
Through the late 1920s and 1930s, Sheikh Zayed’s thirst for knowledge took him into the desert with Bedouin tribesmen to learn all he could about the way of life of the people and the environment. He later recalled with pleasure his experience of desert life and his initiation into the sport of falconry, which became a lifelong passion.
In 1946, Sheikh Zayed became Ruler’s Representative in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi, centred on the oasis of Al Ain. The job involved administering six villages and an adjacent desert region. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Sheikh Zayed established his clear vision of what he wished to achieve for the people of Al Ain, and as someone who led by example.
Despite few government revenues, Sheikh Zayed succeeded in bringing progress to Al Ain, establishing basic administration, personally funding the first modern school in the emirate and coaxing relatives and friends to contribute towards small-scale development.
He revised local water ownership rights to ensure a more equitable distribution, which led to agricultural development and re-establishment of the oasis as the predominant market centre. His city planning in Al Ain helped ensure that today the city is one of the greenest in Arabia.
In August 1966, Sheikh Zayed became Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with a mandate to develop the emirate as quickly as possible. His years in Al Ain had given him valuable experience in government and time to develop a vision of progress.
With the export of the first cargo of Abu Dhabi crude in 1962, he could rely on oil revenues in the service of the people, and a massive construction program for schools, housing, hospitals and roads was underway.
In 1968 the British announced their intention of withdrawing from the Arabian Gulf by the end of 1971. Sheikh Zayed, with the late Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, took the lead in calling for a federation that would include not only the seven emirates that made up the Trucial States, but also Qatar and Bahrain.
Eventually seven states followed Sheikh Zayed in establishing the UAE, which formally emerged on the international stage on December 2, 1971. While his enthusiasm for federation was a key factor in the formation of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed also won support for the way in which he sought consensus and agreement among his fellow rulers.
Sheikh Zayed was elected by his fellow rulers as the first President of the UAE, a post to which he was successively re-elected at five-year intervals.
