Dubai: A man who failed to recognise Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum some years ago recalled the incident and described the leader as a humble man.
Abdul Karim Bilal, 60, a UAE national businessman, described Shaikh Maktoum as "down-to-earth, forgiving and tolerant".
Recalling an incident that happened in the late 1950s, a few metres away from Shaikh Maktoum's modest grave, he told Gulf News, "I came from Kuwait in the late 1950s. I was sleeping in the majlis of the aunt of Shaikh Maktoum. Then I woke up at around 2am to answer the door after I heard someone knocking.
"At the door, there was a servant whom I knew but could not recognise the other young man who stood beside him. I let the servant in but asked the other man to wait outside because there were women inside the house. A while later I came to know from the owners of the house that it was Shaikh Maktoum. I felt embarrassed and asked him for forgiveness again after apologising. Yet, he smiled and said it was fine."
Bilal said Shaikh Maktoum is a father, respectful leader, and compassionate, tolerant and charitable statesman. "Every time I recall that incident, I remember how just, understanding, down-to-earth and very close to the people he was."
Thousands of people yesterday lined up in front of Umm Hurair Cemetery, many of them holding black-bordered poster pictures of Shaikh Maktoum.
Hundreds of people also crowded the balconies of apartments overlooking the cemetery, near the Dubai Creek.
As the crush of people became more intense, the police had to cordon off the entrance for the dignitaries and representatives of countries who had come to pay their respects. A line of plain-clothes policemen held hands and formed a tight human chain.
"I came here at 10 in the morning," said Mohammad Arif, an Indian expatriate, who waited two hours and finally managed to get into the cemetery and offer prayers at Shaikh Maktoum's simple grave.
An 80-year-old UAE national, Ebrahim Ahmad, said the late leader was "a man of charity works and benevolent statesman".
Raj Shetty, chairman of a group of hotels, who was standing near the grave, said it was a sad day for him. "I once had a problem and went to him. Shaikh Maktoum helped solve it," he said.
Nearby, people knelt in the sand and said a prayer for their departed leader, with their palms open and facing skyward.
A tinge of pride in the hour of grief
Grief and sorrow coupled with moments of pride and honour was how Lieutenant Colonel Khalifa Bin Drai, Director of the Paramedics Section at Dubai Police, felt when he drove Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid
Al Maktoum's body to the graveyard.
"I am heartbroken on the demise of Shaikh Maktoum and felt a deep wound in my heart but was very honoured to drive his body to Umm Hurair graveyard," he told Gulf News yesterday.
Lt Col Bin Drai drove the ambulance from Dubai International Airport to Zabeel Palace and then onwards to Zabeel Mosque where shaikhs, dignitaries, diplomats, officials and thousands of people attended the funeral prayer. Brigadier Abdul Rahman Rafie, Director of General Department of Community Service at Dubai Police, escorted Lt Col Bin Drai as he drove the ambulance to the cemetery.
Lt Col Bin Drai said the loss is irreparable as Shaikh Maktoum was more than a father. "He was open-handed, benevolent and a man of charity."
