At 74, Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani has died, the former emir of Qatar and the man who turned one small desert state into a player the greatest powers in the world reckon with. The news was announced by the Qatari royal council on Sunday, without stating the cause of death.

Al Thani ruled Qatar from 1995, when he came to power, until 2013, when he voluntarily stepped down and handed power to his son Tamim, the current emir. That voluntary withdrawal is a rare thing in that part of the world - a man who decides for himself to leave the throne, instead of holding it until his last breath.

His greatest legacy is neither the oil nor the gas, even though he built a wealthy state from them. It's Al Jazeera - the television network he founded, which changed the entire media picture of the Arab world. Before it, news in the region came almost solely from state outlets and Western agencies. With Al Jazeera, for the first time there was an Arab voice that spoke to the whole world - something that irritates many to this day.

His positions on Iraq and the Palestinian question brought him criticism from Washington, but the alliance with America remained. That's the balancing act Qatar became known for - talking to everyone while falling out completely with no one. A small state that learned diplomacy can be stronger than an army.

By his side for decades stood his wife Moza bint Nasser - one of the most recognizable figures in the Arab world, a woman who modernized Qatar's image abroad and left her mark on fashion and diplomacy. Together, they are the story of how one family and one vision can put a small country on a big map. The question his death leaves behind is familiar everywhere power is personal: how much of what was built will endure once the man who created it is gone?