By Fahri Şahin
Not only individuals have their destinies, but nations too have their destinies. And every nation participates, in some way, in the destiny of the leaders who rule it.
In other words, the fate of nations is a strong reflection of the vision of their leaders and their destinies. For this reason, the continuation of a nation’s existence, and the building of a new nation, are directly linked to the effort of its leader, his vision, and the breadth of his intellectual horizon.
Societies without leaders are almost non-existent, while societies with poor leadership are doomed to slowly fade away.
Nations are living beings whose experiences accumulate over time, changing and evolving with this accumulation. Everything related to a nation, from economy to culture, from art to sports, from military success to industry, from soft power to hard power, does not take shape overnight.
Building a nation requires time, patience, and a measure of luck. The greatest luck a nation can have is to have a leader who grasped the intellectual horizons of the world, reached a level of scientific awareness, and was just and resolute.
Sheikh Hamad, from years ago, foresaw the position that oil and natural gas would occupy in the future of the global economy, and transformed economic power into a tool for building an entire society
Qatar Loses the Spirit of Its Age
The history of global politics lost, on July 12, a great leader who succeeded in rebuilding the Qatari nation, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
Many beautiful words can be said about this exceptional personality who combined the admirable qualities that give a leader his true meaning. Perhaps that is a duty, as Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani should be remembered with goodwill, and his memory revived with the most honest and most courteous words.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was a leader who grasped the spirit of the age (Zeitgeist), and through his understanding of this spirit and his adherence to his roots, he was able to rebuild the Qatari nation.
The spirit of the age is not an easy concept to grasp. In the history of world leaders, there are many names who grasped the (Zeitgeist), but leaders who were able to transform this awareness into practice, and involve their nation in this practice, are very few indeed.
Sheikh Hamad, from years ago, foresaw the position that oil and natural gas would occupy in the future of the global economy, and transformed economic power into a tool for building an entire society.
Under the gazes of questioners asking: “What is this leader doing?”, he wrote his name in golden letters in the history of politics, art, and sports in the world. He taught his people how to dream, and was not content with that, but rather left them a great homeland in which they could achieve their dreams.
But grasping the spirit of the age is not a process that ends with building a nation. Understanding the (Zeitgeist) also requires realizing that the movement of time is accelerating in a way that is impossible to contain, and that a new spirit is beginning to sprout in the minds of new generations.
Here precisely lies the greatest difference that distinguished Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani from other leaders.
Grasping the spirit of the age is available to many leaders, building the spirit of the age is available only to a few of them, while transcending the spirit of the age, i.e. (Zeitgeist), is only the lot of exceptional leaders
What Did Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Achieve?
He turned the page on a past that could not grasp the spirit of its age, and rebuilt Qatari society, perhaps from scratch, around a new spirit of the age that he grasped and deeply understood.
Nor was he content with that; rather, he worked, with a rare vision and ethical system, to distribute economic welfare to the entire society, rather than confining it to an elite or a family.
Is that all? Certainly not.
He once again grasped the new spirit of the new age, that is, the changing (Zeitgeist), so he handed over rule to his son, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, representing the new generation and the apple of his eye. Thus, he was not content with building the spirit of the age, but also succeeded in transcending it.
Global politics has lost a leader who built the spirit of the age and transcended it.
Grasping the spirit of the age is available to many leaders, building the spirit of the age is available only to a few of them, while transcending the spirit of the age, i.e. (Zeitgeist), is only the lot of exceptional leaders.
And the spirit of the age never dies. May God have mercy on his soul.
Source: AlJazeera.net
