When Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, sought to unite the emirates in 1971, the scale of the task was immense.
One of his biggest challenges was to unite the Bedouins and it took a man such as Sheikh Zayed to convince the tribes to abandon decades of nomadic living, commit to belonging to one place and believe in the dream of the UAE.
Although most had barely spoken to him, the first President of the UAE was such a formidable force that his ideas were enough to bring together camel herders, pearl divers and so many more from all corners of the emirates.
He built houses for them, schools to educate their children and hospitals to treat their sick.
Although many could barely read or write and were so set in their ways, they believed in a man they barely knew.
He was younger than most of them but his strength of leadership made him instantly known as "Baba Zayed". To mark the UAE's 49th National Day, and as the country enters its 50th year, The National interviewed six people who lived through these days of change.
Mohamed Al Mazrouei, 47, witnessed these rapid developments, having been born a few years after the union.
Mr Al Mazrouei, whose father, Buti Al Mazrouei, once worked as a pearl diver, heard first-hand about the difficult times before the union.
But then came change, led by Sheikh Zayed, that brought roads, hospitals and schools.
“We lived in the beginning of the union and saw the change from National Day to present times," Mohamed Al Mazrouei says.
It was a circle between people who lived on the coast and in the desert. Each complemented the other - and depended on the other
"Maybe we struggled to learn in the beginning but now I am studying for a master's and a PhD.
"I was born in the seventies. I saw my brothers ahead of me and saw the development."
Mr Al Mazrouei recalls that life in the past was a circle based on trade and mutual benefit. Everyone helped each other.
"It was a circle between people who lived on the coast and those in the desert. Each complemented the other and depended on the other," he says.
"The divers rarely found enough [people] so they used to ask for assistance from the people of the desert. The Bedouins would come to them and offer their services.
"The divers went out to sea for four months in the summer. Those who were left behind would take their families and stay at the oases in Liwa and Al Ain.
“After that they would all move back to the desert to live off the dates they collected while at the oasis. The winter was spent in the desert with the sheep and camels.”
Bedouins moved around according to the season. Hotter months were spent near the oasis where there was water, shade and less humidity than on the coast.
“During this period they needed hay to feed their cattle so they would buy it at the city, which is what they called the Al Ain oasis," he says.
"They would exchange whatever they had for rice, flour, sugar and other food they needed.
“It was a circulation. The people of the sea didn’t have wood so they would buy it from the Bedouins. There were markets on the coast and on the oasis.
"The traders would get their things from India. So basically those who returned from sea would sell their pearls to the traders who would go on to resell the pearls to a bigger trader.
“When they sell it in India, it wasn’t the Indians who bought these pearls, it was sold to the British colonisers in India."
The discovery of Japanese pearls and the coming of oil changed these old ways.
“We went from a level of prosperity to another level until it reached where we are today at the forefront of countries around the world. This goes back to first God and Zayed and his children and their wise leadership," he says.
Mr Al Mazrouei says bringing the tribes together and establishing schools is Sheikh Zayed's legacy.
“Sheikh Zayed was social and loved the Bedouins; he would sit among them and joke with them. There was a brotherhood between them and he wanted to gather the tribes from the desert," he says.
"He knew it was a struggle to educate the elderly so he opened schools for the young. He believed that a country would not develop without schools and proper health care.
"In video and archive photos you will see pictures of parents studying alongside their children. He would give salaries to students and clothes."
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Sheikh Zayed and the story of a nation
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
- Get a service history for cars less than five years old
- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
- Do your due diligence. Get a transfer of ownership done at an official RTA centre
- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
Soldier F
“I was in complete disgust at the fact that only one person was to be charged for Bloody Sunday.
“Somebody later said to me, 'you just watch - they'll drop the charge against him'. And sure enough, the charges against Soldier F would go on to be dropped.
“It's pretty hard to think that 50 years on, the State is still covering up for what happened on Bloody Sunday.”
Jimmy Duddy, nephew of John Johnson
How to vote
Canadians living in the UAE can register to vote online and be added to the International Register of Electors.
They'll then be sent a special ballot voting kit by mail either to their address, the Consulate General of Canada to the UAE in Dubai or The Embassy of Canada in Abu Dhabi
Registered voters mark the ballot with their choice and must send it back by 6pm Eastern time on October 21 (2am next Friday)
The five pillars of Islam
RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
Winner Canvassed, Par Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
Winner Dubai Future, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Mouheeb, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard
8.15pm Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
9.50pm Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Topper Bill, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
9.25pm Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Man Of Promise, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
ILT20%20UAE%20stars
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELEADING%20RUN%20SCORERS%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1%20Nicholas%20Pooran%2C%20261%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E2%20Muhammad%20Waseem%20(UAE)%2C%20248%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E3%20Chris%20Lynn%2C%20244%3Cbr%3E4%20Johnson%20Charles%2C%20232%3Cbr%3E5%20Kusal%20Perera%2C%20230%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBEST%20BOWLING%20AVERAGE%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E(minimum%2010%20overs%20bowled)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E1%20Zuhaib%20Zubair%20(UAE)%2C%209%20wickets%20at%2012.44%3Cbr%3E2%20Mohammed%20Rohid%20(UAE)%2C%207%20at%2013.00%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E3%20Fazalhaq%20Farooqi%2C%2017%20at%2013.05%3Cbr%3E4%20Waqar%20Salamkheil%2C%2010%20at%2014.08%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E5%20Aayan%20Khan%20(UAE)%2C%204%20at%2015.50%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E6%20Wanindu%20Hasaranga%2C%2012%20at%2016.25%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E7%20Mohammed%20Jawadullah%20(UAE)%2C%2010%20at%2017.00%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports
No_One Ever Really Dies
N*E*R*D
(I Am Other/Columbia)