Sheikh Zayed through the eyes of others

He had a great reputation among the Bedu. They liked him for his easy, informal ways and his friendliness, and they respected his force of character, his shrewdness and his physical strength. “They said admiringly ‘Zayed is a Bedu. He knows about camels, can ride like one of us, can shoot, and knows how to fight’.” So wrote the British explorer Wilfred Thesiger in his book Arabian Sands about his meeting with the late Sheikh Zayedduring his great expedition to the Trucial Coast in the late 1940s. Thesiger was one of the first but Sheikh Zayed left an impression on all those who met him. Many books and articles have been published highlighting various aspects and facets of “Baba Zayed”. They tell of the way the founding father of the UAE built a powerful and prosperous nation, his diplomatic endeavours and mediatory efforts, humanitarian projects abroad, the love and close relationship with his people and the timeless vision that continues to shape the UAE. It is a story that continues to be written and revisited. Last month saw the release of the latest book on him, Zayed: Man Who Built a Nation, published by the National Centre for Documentation and Research (NCDR). This time the focus was on the collective memories of those who met and worked with him, including foreign dignitaries. “A son of the desert, Sheikh Zayed never forgot the hardships and deprivations of the past,” writes Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Presidential Affairs, and chairman of NCDR in the foreword of the book. “It is my hope that access to Zayed: Man Who Built a Nation will promote not only my father’s legacy as a great leader, but an understanding of what it means to be a proud Arab and a faithful Muslim. During his life, Sheikh Zayed remained all three.” Weighing more than two kilograms and at 734 pages long, the Dh200 book is epic in every sense. It is filled with photos and statements from those he met, including sections dedicated to the history of Al Nahyan rule, Sheikh Zayed’s early years and his 33 years as a President of the UAE. “Sheikh Zayed was viewed as a quiet, capable negotiator. It was a role in which he was adept,” said former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing. The former US president Jimmy Carter recalls: “There were a lot more occasions when Sheikh Zayed negotiated quietly and without any publicity. “He never sought credit or approval for his diplomatic efforts. Yet he was tireless, even in the face of belligerence and bad faith among those he was trying to help.” The book was put together through the efforts of researchers at NCDR who travelled abroad, and met and interviewed the different officials and persons whose lives and work had been affected by Sheikh Zayed. “Using documented evidence and the recollections of statesmen and officials from all over the world, we paint the canvas of a diplomat who emerged, using his influence to avoid wars and avert catastrophes,” writes Graeme H Wilson, the book’s author. “Also captured is the least known side of his life, a vast array of philanthropic acts that touched the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world.” It is six years since the NCDR published Zayed: From Challenges to Union, compiled by the historian Jayanti Maitra, who sifted through records held in British archives to build an in-depth portrait of Sheikh Zayed’s rise from desert prince to a world statesman. In the latest book, the things Sheikh Zayed cared about and his reactions to events are brought to life through the testimonies of those closest to him. One example was the early weeks after the union of the country on December 2, 1971. It was a frantic time, as Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum recalls.