Prayers started pouring in as the UAE woke up to the news of a leader’s death on Thursday. The President’s brother, Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, representative of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, passed away after suffering from a health problem.

The Dubai Ruler and his sons expressed their sympathies in personal posts on the platform X (Twitter) on Thursday.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, offered his condolences to the President.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the emirate’s Executive Council, was among the first to post a prayer together with a black-and-white photo of Sheikh Saeed.

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Other Dubai leaders — Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE; and Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Sports Council — posted similar messages.

Top Emirati diplomat Dr Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE President, paid tribute to Sheikh Saeed, describing him as a man “who devoted his life to serving his country and its leadership”.

Here’s a post he shared on the platform X (formerly Twitter):

“Sincere condolences to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, and to the honorable Al Nahyan family, on the death of Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed, who devoted his life to serving his country and its leadership.”

The Arabic hashtag for ‘Saeed bin Zayed’ and other related keywords like ‘Abu Dhabi ruler’ (as he was the representative of the emirate’s ruler) were on the trending charts of X, with thousands of tweets pouring in this morning.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, and chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline and Group, was among the business leaders who condoled with Al Nahyan family.

Hassan Sajwani, a UAE influencer, with over 200,000 followers, expressed his sympathies:

Born in 1965 in Al Ain, Sheikh Saeed was appointed as the Representative of the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in June 2010, and held a number of positions in the government. He had also served in the office of the UAE’s Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.