25 took me to see Sheikh Obaid ibn Jum‘a alMaktoum, who had built an arbor from palm fronds near the shore, where he trained falcons for hunting. That evening, I went to the gathering at Sheikh Mubarak al-Shamsi’s majlis, in front of his house, as my grandmother had told me. He welcomed me warmly and invited me to sit beside him. The gathering was animated with conversation, and Sheikh Mubarak resumed a story that immediately drew me in. “May God’s curse be upon them,” he began. “Thirty-eight years ago, in 1910, the British attacked Dubai, landing soldiers at night with the intent to occupy it. But the
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