6th of August 2004, His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan completed 38 years as Ruler of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the seven emirates that together comprise the Federation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), of which he has been President since its creation in December 1971. He has provided leadership to the country for well over half a century. He was born around 1918 in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Zayed (…) and died on 2nd of November, 2004.
(…)At the time Sheikh Zayed was born, the emirate was poor and undeveloped, with an economy based primarily on fishing and pearl diving along the coast and offshore and on simple agriculture in scattered oases inland. Part of the population was nomadic, ranging across a wide area of south-eastern Arabia in search of pasture. Life, even for a member of the ruling family, was simple. Opportunities for education were generally confined to lessons in reading and writing, along with instruction in Islam from the local preacher, while modern facilities such as roads, communications and health care were conspicuous only by their absence. Transport was by camel or boat, and the harshness of the arid climate meant that survival itself was often a major concern. (…)
Throughout the late 1920s and 1930s, as Sheikh Zayed grew to manhood, he displayed an early thirst for knowledge that took him out into the desert with the bedu tribesmen to learn all he could about the way of life of people and the environment in which they lived. (…) From his desert journeys, Sheikh Zayed developed an understanding of the relationship between man and his environment and, in particular, the need to ensure that sustainable use was made of natural resources. (…) In the 1930s, when the first oil company teams arrived to carry out preliminary surface geological surveys, he was assigned by his brother the task of guiding them around the desert. At the same time, he obtained his first exposure to the industry that was later to have such a great impact upon the country. In the year 1946, Sheikh Zayed was chosen to fill a vacancy as Ruler`s Representative in the Eastern Region of Abu Dhabi, centred on the oasis of Al Ain. (…) Sheikh Zayed brought to his new task a firm believe in the values of consultation and consensus, in contrast to confrontation. (…) He swiftly established himself not only as someone who had a clear vision of what he wished to achieve for the people of Al Ain, but also as someone who led by example. (…)
In 1953, Sheikh Zayed made his first visit abroad, accompanying his brother Shakhbut to Britain and France and attending an international arbitration tribunal on the legality of offshore oil concessions in the Emirate. He recalled later how impressed he had been by the schools and hospitals he visited, becoming determined that his own people should have the benefit of similar facilities:
There were a lot of dreams. I was dreaming about our land catching up with the modern world, but I was not able to do anything because I did not have the wherewithal in my hands to achieve these dreams. I was sure, however, that one day they would become true.
(…) Oil production was to provide Sheikh Zayed with the means to fund his dreams, with the export of the first cargo of Abu Dhabi crude in 1962.(…)
Although oil prices were then far lower than they are today, the rapidly growing volume of exports, from both onshore and offshore, revolutionised the economy of Abu Dhabi and its people began to look forward eagerly to receiving similar benefits to those already being enjoyed by their neighbours in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. (…) The economic hardships experienced by Abu Dhabi since 1930s had accustomed the Ruler, Sheikh Shakhbut, to cautious frugality. (...)
Attempts by members of his family, including Sheikh Zayed, and by the leaders of the other tribes in he emirate to persuade him to move with the times were unsuccessful, and eventually the Al Nahyan family decided that the time had come for him to step down. Sheikh Zayed`s record over the previous 20 years in AL Ain and his popularity among the people made him the obvious choice as successor. On 6th of August 1966, Sheikh Zayed became Ruler, with the mandate from his family to press ahead as fast as possible with the development of Abu Dhabi.
Of his first weeks, Sheikh Zayed has said:
All the picture was prepared. It was a matter of fresh thinking, but of simply putting into effect the thoughts of years and years. First I knew we had to concentrate on Abu Dhabi and public welfare. In short, we had to obey the circumstances: the needs of the people as a whole. Second, I wanted to approach other emirates to work with us. In harmony, in some sort of federation, we could follow the example of other developing countries.
(…)Along with the late Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who was to become Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed took the lead in calling for a federation (…).
Sheikh Zayed was elected by his fellow rulers as the first President of the UAE, a post to which he has been successively re-elected at five-year intervals. (…)
Over the 33 years, the UAE has not only survived, but has developed at a rate that is almost without parallel. The country has been utterly transformed. Its population has risen from around 250,000 in 1971 to an estimate around 3.48 million in mid-2002. (…) The country had although established itself firmly in the international scene (…).
There is no doubt that the experiment in federation has been a success and the undoubted key to the achievements of the UAE has been the central role played by Sheikh Zayed. (…)
The financial resources, however, have always been regarded by Sheikh Zayed not as a means unto themselves, but as a tool to facilitate the development of what he believes to be the real wealth of the country – its people, and, in particular the younger generation.
Wealth is not money. Wealth is men. This is where true power lies, the power that we value. They are the shield behind which we seek protection. This is what has convinced us to direct all our resources to building the individual, and to using the wealth with which God has provided us in the service of the nation, so that it may grow and prosper. Unless wealth is used in conjunction with knowledge to plan for its use, and unless there are enlightened intellects to direct it, its fate is to diminish and to disappear. The greatest use that can be made of wealth is to invest it in creating generations of educated and trained people. (…)
Sheikh Zayed was an eager advocate of tolerance, discussion and a better understanding between those of different faiths, and in particular, has been an ardent advocate of dialogue between Muslims and Christians, recognised that this is essential if mankind is ever to move forward in harmony.
War never solves a problem. Listening to the sense of reason is the right way to resolve differences between countries…This must be based on the principles of justice and the rule of law.

Out of: United Arab Emirates Yearbook 2003