Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques patronizes the opening

ceremony of KAUST 6 Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

Then the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz Al Saud delivered the following speech:

"In the name of God, the most graceful, most merciful

Your Majesties,
Your Excellencies,
Your Highnesses,
Distinguished guests,
The idea of this university has been a dream of mine for more than
25 years. It has been a persistent desire that has lived with me ever
since. And I thank God, the Great, the Merciful, that he enabled us
to embody it as a reality that stands mightily, with God's will, on
our soil today. On behalf of the Saudi people, I would like to
express our deepest thanks for your presence here and your
participation in the birth of our dream.
The Islamic civilization historically has played an enormous role in
serving humanity. After God, the great Islamic scholars have
contributed to many areas of scholarship, such as the role played by
Ibn Al-Nafees in medicine, the impact Jaber bin Hayyan had on
chemistry, and Al-Khawarizmi's pivotal role in algebra. Similarly,
the study of sociology benefited immensely from the genius of Ibn
Khaldoon.
For all of that, the university, whose inauguration we celebrate
today, did not emerge from nowhere. It is a contribution of what
distinguished our civilization in its golden age. This is, first of
all, what the university stands for.
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