There are still many challenges ahead for King Fahd's successors. How to manage the Kingdom’s fluctuating oil revenues, how to find sufficient work for a young and fast-growing population, how to foster the elusive Arab unity without which the Arab nation will never reach its full potential, how to counter disinformation about Islam and about the Kingdom – these are just some of the challenges which are easy to identify – and, with the passage of time, no doubt new challenges will arise. But, in terms of what a man can achieve in his allotted life span, King Fahd proved to be the right man at the right time and, with the help of God, took the opportunity to achieve far more than most.

There have been monuments built to mark the passing on earth of great men. Across the Red Sea, the pyramids still stand as giant tombs to long-dead pharaohs. King Fahd has a finer monument – a nation and a country that he made far better than he found it.