From Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al‑Faisal Al‑Saud,
King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
to our sons and daughters in the Eastern Province.
My beloved people,
We praise God before you, for He has guided us to our path; and we would not have been guided had He not guided us. We send prayers and peace upon His Messenger and Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers.
We have come to you to visit you, to look into your conditions, and to seek the means of reform in your affairs—affairs that receive the greatest share of our care, our thought, and our effort. My heart has been gladdened, and my spirit uplifted, by what I have witnessed among you, as individuals and as groups, of sincere devotion, profound loyalty, and noble sentiment—manifested clearly in your warm reception and the expressions of affection and fidelity with which you welcomed us. This has left the finest impression upon me.
My confidence in the future of my people has grown even stronger as I observed your determination to advance and your commitment to the causes of progress—an aspiration that will receive from us all that nurtures it and brings its hopes to fruition, through the cooperation of all, so that our country may attain the most honoured place among nations. In this, we strive to fulfil the lofty and noble objectives set before us by our great late father—may God bless his soul and grant him Paradise—following his enlightened path, drawing from his pure example, and walking in his upright way.
Let all know that the highest aim to which we aspire, and for which we exert our utmost effort, is to restore to Muslims their glory and strength—by devoting worship sincerely to God alone, and by upholding the rites of religion as God has commanded. I have devoted, and shall continue to devote, my greatest effort and care to this noble purpose.
I also declare that my door is open to all, so that I may learn of your conditions, attend to your affairs, and uphold the pillars of justice among you—implementing upon you the rulings of the Book of God and the Sunnah of His Messenger. My approach toward you and with you is founded upon mercy and firmness: your young are as my children, your elders as my brothers; the strong among you is weak before me until I take the right from him, and the weak among you is strong before me until I restore the right to him.
My noble people,
Let each of you make his highest and sole aim the elevation of truth, the advancement of the nation, its safety, and its progress. Whoever lags behind the community, obstructs its path, or sows discord among its members shall receive from us what brings him back to the right course and ensures the safety of the nation, God willing.
My noble people,
My trust in you is firm, and my hopes in you—and for you—are great. Let us all work, each within his sphere, with sincerity and cooperation, to achieve our aims: the advancement of our nation and the elevation of the word of Islam.
We ask God to watch over us with His care and to grant us continued success and peace.