The late, great British explorer and author Sir Wilfred Thesiger's life story is inextricably linked with the history of the UAE.
He's known, among many other accomplishments, for his 1959 literary masterpiece Arabian Sands, which documented his gruelling crossing and recrossing of the Empty Quarter, taking in today's UAE, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman.
But also well known was his close friendship with UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, whom he met on many occasions, the first time in 1947.
On February 20, 2000, three years before Thesiger's death, Sheikh Zayed honoured him with the Order of Independence, one of the UAE's highest awards. Then 89, Thesiger was decorated with the sash by Sheikh Zayed's son, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was then the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, at a special ceremony in Bateen Palace.
“The decoration, presented on the instructions of President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was awarded to Thesiger in recognition of his long friendship for the people of the Emirates and his service to the country,” Sheikh Hamdan said, as was reported then by state news agency Wam.
Thesiger said he accepted the decoration with “feelings of great honour and pleasure.”
“The journeys across the Empty Quarter for which it was awarded have always been the most important journeys that I have made,” he added. “These journeys over 50 years ago were made possible for me by the assistance and encouragement which I received from Sheikh Zayed.”
Writing in The National in 2019, the late author and cultural historian Peter Hellyer, who also met Thesiger on many of his visits to the UAE, recalled the occasion with great pride.
“A few years before his death, I attended the ceremony in which he was given a medal awarded to him by Sheikh Zayed. One of Sheikh Zayed’s sons presented it to him and I recall, with amusement, a conversation about Sheikh Zayed’s age,” Hellyer writes. “Thesiger said: 'I am now nearly 90. Looking back to when we first met in 1947, he must have been around 30. So now he must be over 80.'
“Sheikh Zayed’s son laughed, saying: 'None of us would dare to tell him he was that old!'”
One of the last great European explorers, Thesiger first visited the UAE in 1946 during an epic journey across the Empty Quarter with several Bedu companions. He made further journeys in the area between 1947 and 1950, including a second crossing of the Empty Quarter. His journeys became the basis of Arabian Sands, which provides a unique record of life in the deserts of south-eastern Arabia before the discovery of oil.
Thesiger was also an expert photographer, his pictures capturing the people and scenery of Arabia before modernisation. He photographed an incredible 35,000 images of Abu Dhabi and the surrounding areas, including those of Sheikh Zayed. A companion coffee table book to Arabian Sands, called Crossing Sands, was also released later, which Thesiger dedicated to Sheikh Zayed.
Thesiger wrote many other books, including The Marsh Arabs, The Last Nomad, The Life of My Choice and Visions of a Nomad.
In Arabian Sands, he described Abu Dhabi as a “small dilapidated town which stretched along the shore”. He also wrote about how he and his companions sat outside the walls of the imposing Qasr Al Hosn fort near some small cannons that were half-buried in sand, as they waited to be admitted. Eventually they were ushered in to meet Sheikh Shakhbut, the then Ruler of Abu Dhabi, who lived there.
The group remained in Abu Dhabi for 20 days, staying in a dilapidated house near the market. The town then had 2,000 inhabitants.
“Each morning the sheikhs visited us, walking slowly across from the castle,” he wrote. “We talked for an hour or more, drinking coffee and eating sweets, and, after they had left us, we visited the market, where we sat cross-legged in the small shops, gossiping and drinking more coffee.”
Of Sheikh Zayed, Thesiger wrote: “He had a great reputation among the Bedu. They liked him for his easy, informal ways and his friendliness, and they respected his force of character, his shrewdness and his physical strength.
“They said admiringly ‘Zayed is a Bedu. He knows about camels, can ride like one of us, can shoot, and knows how to fight’.”
Thesiger died in London on August 24, 2003, at the age of 93. Sheikh Zayed passed away a year later, on November 2, 2004, during Ramadan. He was 84.
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
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- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
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- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
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Dubai Hurricanes 24-12 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
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- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
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- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
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The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
8 UAE companies helping families reduce their carbon footprint
Greenheart Organic Farms
This Dubai company was one of the country’s first organic farms, set up in 2012, and it now delivers a wide array of fruits and vegetables grown regionally or in the UAE, as well as other grocery items, to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi doorsteps.
www.greenheartuae.com
Modibodi
Founded in Australia, Modibodi is now in the UAE with waste-free, reusable underwear that eliminates the litter created by a woman’s monthly cycle, which adds up to approximately 136kgs of sanitary waste over a lifetime.
www.modibodi.ae
The Good Karma Co
From brushes made of plant fibres to eco-friendly storage solutions, this company has planet-friendly alternatives to almost everything we need, including tin foil and toothbrushes.
www.instagram.com/thegoodkarmaco
Re:told
One Dubai boutique, Re:told, is taking second-hand garments and selling them on at a fraction of the price, helping to cut back on the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothes thrown into landfills each year.
www.shopretold.com
Lush
Lush provides products such as shampoo and conditioner as package-free bars with reusable tins to store.
www.mena.lush.com
Bubble Bro
Offering filtered, still and sparkling water on tap, Bubble Bro is attempting to ensure we don’t produce plastic or glass waste. Founded in 2017 by Adel Abu-Aysha, the company is on track to exceeding its target of saving one million bottles by the end of the year.
www.bubble-bro.com
Coethical
This company offers refillable, eco-friendly home cleaning and hygiene products that are all biodegradable, free of chemicals and certifiably not tested on animals.
www.instagram.com/coethical
Eggs & Soldiers
This bricks-and-mortar shop and e-store, founded by a Dubai mum-of-four, is the place to go for all manner of family products – from reusable cloth diapers to organic skincare and sustainable toys.
www.eggsnsoldiers.com
Titanium Escrow profile
Started: December 2016
Founder: Ibrahim Kamalmaz
Based: UAE
Sector: Finance / legal
Size: 3 employees, pre-revenue
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Investors: Founder's friends and Family
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
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- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
