Unsurpassed

A poem by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Sheikh Mohammed on the occasion of Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's victory in the World Endurance Championship in Jerez, Spain.


Oh knight, never has this day been surpassed,
Your horses in the desert sign their tracks to follow.

Always the horses respond to your resolve,
Your determination in their blood brought victory.

Mohammed, bu Rashid, like planets orbiting,
Among the highest stars and their moon.

Winning is your habit and your deeds are great,
Peaks that cannot be scaled, with your resolve you reached.

If they ask the horses their secrets to reveal,
They say your resolve their victory commanded.

They set forth like a spear from the hand of a hero,
Equal their heads with their backs.

They dispersed and by their hooves shook the walls,
Like mountains in a landslide.

Congratulations, as many as the horses that ran,
Widespread as the scent of the trees so high.

And the son of the noble, you find him a knight and a falconer,
Ready to face the most arduous paths, fearing not their danger.

Ahmed his name, his victory reached and exceeded,
The highest stars and their light.

A knight whose horse's dust clouds the sight,
Of people wide-eyed, staring.

He cut the distance like the sharpest sword,
The distance his resolve made short.

The prize you deserve, oh son of the noble,
Of you your country, highly esteemed, is proud.

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