The ten families refers to the families or tribes that are ruling the small independent states in the Persian Gulf.
The standard Arabic reference to a tribe is bani fulan, literally translated as "the sons of so-and-so". A majority of the families in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are part of the Bani Yas tribe whose origin can be traced back to Yas Bin Amer of the Nizar Bin Maid bin Adnan tribe. The ten families are
- Al Sabah family in Kuwait
- Al Khalifa family in Bahrain
- Al Thani family in Qatar
- Al Nahayan family in Abu Dhabi
- Al Nuaimi family in Ajman
- Al Sharqi family in Fujairah
- Al Maktoum family in Dubai
- Al Qasimi family in Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah
- Al Mualla family in Umm al-Qaiwain
- Al Said family in Oman
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Famous quotes containing the words ten and/or families:
“Why should the generations overlap one another at all? Why cannot we be buried as eggs in neat little cells with ten or twenty thousand pounds each wrapped round us in Bank of England notes, and wake up, as the Sphinx wasp does, to find that its papa and mamma have not only left ample provision at its elbow but have been eaten by sparrows some weeks before we began to live consciously on our own accounts?”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)
“Accidents will occur in the best regulated families; and in families not regulated by that pervading influence which sanctifies while it enhances the—a—I would say, in short, by the influence of Woman, in the lofty character of Wife, they may be expected with confidence, and must be borne with philosophy.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)