Many people imagine that courage has but one form: a raised weapon, a booming voice, striking and thrusting. There is no doubt that these are among the manifestations of courage and valor, and on the battlefield the mettle of men is tested and the heroism of warriors revealed.
Yet courage takes other forms, subtle in character and difficult to master. They are attainable only by those who place reason above emotion and make both serve their purpose until they reach their goal. It was this kind of courage that Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi had in mind when he wrote: "Judgment comes before the courage of the brave."
Indeed, this is the very essence of leadership, its heart and core. Brave men who do not fear combat are many. Men of judgment, possessed by constant caution, are also many. But those who combine courage of heart with clarity of mind, and who possess both the ability to draw the sword and the wisdom to know when to do so, are exceedingly rare throughout history.
Among them, and among the finest of them, was King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud, founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and heir to a long legacy of glory, rule, and leadership.
Allow me to share this lesson in leadership from Abdulaziz recounted by his son, the late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz. He said:
"I remember that when a dispute arose between him and Imam Yahya, the former Imam of Yemen, he did not rush to severity. Instead, he sought to resolve their differences through patience and forbearance, to the point that we, his sons and the men of his state, were almost ready to accuse him of weakness. Yet he paid no heed to us and continued on his chosen path until no reproach could reasonably be directed at him. Only then was he compelled to take up the sword. And when prominent Arab leaders intervened between the two kings, he was quick to cease the fighting."
(Al-Musawwar (Egypt), 1948, as cited in Mohammed Mounir Al-Badawi's Al-Mutawakkil 'ala Al-Wadud: Abdulaziz Al Saud, pp. 294-295.)
Many stories are told of Abdulaziz's forgiveness and his willingness to relinquish his personal rights. But when it came to the public interest and the authority of the state itself, he neither maneuvered nor equivocated. He would not surrender so much as a mustard seed's worth of principle, and he stood firm to the very end.
This responsible spirit of leadership became woven into the DNA of Saudi leadership from Abdulaziz to the present day. It is what has preserved the Saudi state from the pitfalls of political adventurism that have brought ruin to peoples and nations across this region, from the days of the First World War, through the Second World War and the Cold War, and through all that followed, down to the present era of Iran and America, of Trump, Netanyahu, and Khamenei, and those aligned with them here and there.
War, when nothing else remains, is the inheritance of the early horsemen of the Arabian Peninsula. But politics and patience, when they offer a path to avert war, are the chosen method of this leadership. That is the golden equation, mastered only by those who can distinguish precious metals from base ones.
