Dubai: The bustling streets of Bur Dubai and Bastakia were lifeless ... people were lost in thought.
The shops were closed. Phone booths were empty. Dubai had lost its leader and the city was a shadow of its usual self.
While on Wednesday the city was still stunned at the sudden death of Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, by yesterday the tragic news had really begun to sink in.
The few people who were not at home contemplating the loss the city had suffered wore downcast expressions as they hurried along almost empty sidewalks.
On construction sites, diggers sat quiet in the sun, completely still. One small vehicle even had a bunch of flowers in the cab in tribute to Shaikh Maktoum. Cranes did not move. Piles of bricks were left untouched.
The frenetic pace of development that Shaikh Maktoum did so much to promote during his enlightened leadership had slowed to a halt in his honour.
A city that is always so vibrant and thriving was seemingly at a loss as to how to go on after the passing of the man who guided it through such a significant period in its history.
Parents brought their children and husbands brought their wives to pay their last respects to the much loved ruler of Dubai.
The slow atmosphere was stirred by a group of mourners with posters of Shaikh Maktoum.
Abdullah Ahmad, 36, a UAE national, arrived as the crowds were thinning and took a moment to compose himself. "I've come here today to see our leader. He was like a father, a godfather. Everybody is here to say goodbye. He did very good things in the past and I am not worried about the future," said Ahmad.
"So many people came to the mosque because we are in shock," he added
Near the entrance of the cemetery, Ahmad Al Kader, 32, a UAE national, peered in. "I have been here since the morning and I came to see His Highness. I am feeling sad and I think every body who has come here today feels the same. I have come here with my uncle," he said.
Not far from the cemetery in a majlis in Bastakia, a group of friends gather together and discuss the leader. Khalid Al Shamsi, a UAE national, said he watched the funeral on television. "Shaikh Maktoum was very close to the people because he was kind to them. He never said no to anyone. He never liked anybody to sit on the floor in his company and would offer the seat next to him," recalled Al Shamsi.
"He came to my workplace. I stood away from him because leaders don't like to be crowded sometimes but not him. He came up to me to shake my hand," said Al Shamsi.
He said he had been surprised and shocked when he heard of the death. "The city is sad and has gone quiet. It is not like this usually it is very busy but today there is nobody there," said Al Shamsi.
