'In the UAE, in Dubai, I don’t care if you are a gazelle or a lion - when you wake up, you better start running': Sheikh Mohammed

Watch powerful video shared by Mohammed Al Gergawi highlighting the timeless message on ambition, resilience and staying ahead

By Huda Tabrez Published: 2026-04-24T18:02:00+04:00 1 min read
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (File photo)
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (File photo)
Dubai: A powerful quote by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, is once again resonating online, after His Excellency Mohammed Al Gergawi shared a video revisiting the message.
“In the UAE, in Dubai, I don’t care if you are a gazelle or a lion, when you wake up, you better start running,” Sheikh Mohammed famously said.
Today, His Excellency Mohammed Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs, posted a video on these inspiring words, showing just how important that insight is.
Describing it as a powerful lesson, Al Gergawi’s post features an illustrated retelling of the well-known analogy of the lion and the gazelle — a metaphor for the constant drive required to succeed.
“Every morning, when the gazelle wakes up in Africa, he makes sure he outruns the fastest lion or he’ll be killed. When the lion wakes up, he makes sure that he outruns the slowest gazelle or he will starve. I say, in the UAE, in Dubai, I don’t care if you are a gazelle or a lion - when you wake up, you better start running.”


His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai