I wrote the following poem as a tribute to the memory of the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan the day he died on November 2,2004. I lived many years in the UAE and watched his benevolent rule up close. This is the first time it is published on the 20th anniversary of Sheikh Zayed's death.
From the oasis of Al Ain
You started your march
Your dream, your vision,
Your desire for change
You rose from the desert
As tall, as generous
As unbending as a palm tree
Always giving, always sheltering
Standing aloft, above history and time
For all to see, how legacy is made
How seeds are sown, how life is born
From the desert's womb
The cradle of man
The home of Abraham, of Mosses
Of Jesus the Nazareth,
Of Mohammed the Quraishite
Of Babel's gardens
Of civilizations of yore
The home of heroism
And haunting stories
You found the secret
With a Bedouin's intuition
With nature's inspiration
That water and only water
Was the miracle of life!
With a vision in sight
And a will at hand
You shouldered the burden
With a solemn oath
Never will you slumber
Never will you sleep
Never your conscience
Will rest in peace
Until the desert, adorns its cloak
Until it lushes, with luxuriant bloom
Until people in love
In plenty and bounty
Under the tent of Zayed
All live in peace
All divisions must cease
Until all could see
How a Bedouin Emir
Can teach the world
How leaders could reap
When promises, they keep.
-
Bashir Goth, November 2, 2004.