Did Emir Dubai say: “Difficult times create strong people” - and did he illustrate this with the help of camels and cars?

On the Internet, the Arab Sheikh’s statement that his grandfather was traveling on a camel is popular, he himself moves on Mercedes, and his great -grandson will go a camel again. We checked the reliability of this quote.

The phrase attributed to Emir sounds like this: “My grandfather went on a camel, my father went on a camel, I am on a Mercedes, my son - to Land Rover, and my grandson will drive Land Rover, but the great -ruble will go on a camel ... Why is that so? Because difficult times create strong people, strong people create easy times. Light times create weak people. Weak people create difficult times. Many will not understand, but it is necessary to educate warriors, not parasites. ”

Although in a number of sources (for example, in article "Wikipedia" about the eastern ruler, on sites With collections Quote And the portal ISLAM-TODAY) They cite only the first part of the statement, much more popular, apparently, was the “complete” version. It can be found, for example, in large publics on VKontakte with hundreds of thousands and even millions of subscribers: "5 interesting facts", "What inspires", "Do you know?", "Reading", HS, "I am a billionaire", "Smartmoney | Business magazine ", "The wisdom of life" and others. Thousand Likes Get And publications V communities on Facebook, where the supposedly statement of Emir Dubai Published Including politician and public figure Irina Khakamad.

To begin with, often publications with this quote in social networks are accompanied by an erroneous photograph. It is not depicted One of the founders UAE Sheikh Rashid ibn Said al-Maktum (1910–1990), who is usually called the author of the expression, and his third son and Emir Dubai since 2006 Muhammad ibn Rashid al-Maktum. However, some sources do not just supply a statement with an incorrect photograph, but sometimes they directly attribute the phrase to the modern ruler of the emirate.

In the spring of 2021, the verified phrase became popular outside the Russian -speaking segment of the Internet, which attracted the attention of our foreign colleagues. By data The fact of AFP, such publications were placed by users from Japan and Bangladesh, a factor from AAP Disassembled Messages published on Facebook by the inhabitants of Canada and Papua - New Guinea. According to the observation of our colleagues, foreigners also often provide a quote from a photograph of Sheikh Muhammad, and not Sheikh Rashid.

In the fifth edition of the collection of quotes Oxford Essential Quotations indicatedthat the phrase interested in us Sometimes attributed Sheikh Rashid. At the same time, the compilers emphasize: it is not known for reliably when and in what circumstances this phrase was uttered. It was unambiguously established that back in 1986 a similar statement Binded With Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Minister of the oil industry of Saudi Arabia. In this version, the phrase sounds like this: “My grandfather drove a camel, and my father is by car, I fly by plane, my son will drive by car, and my grandson will be a camel.”

AAP factor Turned For a commentary on Graham Wilson, the author of several books about the leaders of Muslim countries, including Sheikh Rashida. Wilson confirmed the reliability of the quote: “For the first time, I heard about this phrase from Sheikh Hamdan Ibn Rashid (son of Sheikh Rashid and Minister of Finance Dubai in 1971–2021. - Ed.) At about 1988, and for many years later - from George Shapman, Advisor of Sheikh Rashid on marine transportation.” According to the interlocutor of AAP, the emir Dubai brought this phrase during a conversation with advisers, explaining why the super -income from mineral extraction must be invested in development - such an approach will precisely avoid returning to camel driving.

At the same time, the second part of the statement dedicated to “difficult times” and “strong people” has nothing to do with either Sheikh Rashid, who died in 1990, or his son Muhammad, who now rules Dubai. These words Taken From the science fiction novel “Those who remained” by Ji Michael Hopf. According to the notes to the text, the expression “difficult times give birth to strong people, strong people give birth to good times, good times give birth to weak people, weak people give birth to difficult times” he took from “memega seized several years ago”, the origin of which he could not establish. Be that as it may, we could not find such words in the speeches of the Dubai emirs.

Half truth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Aap. Dubai Sheikh’s Words Lost in Translation with Viral Quote
2. AFP Fact Check. Sheikh Mohammed Did Not Say Great-Grandson 'Will Beck On a Camel' In 2014 Interview