By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent, and Zein Ja'Far
He has been called a "reformist" ruler, steadily driving Saudi Arabia towards modernisation.
World leaders past and present hailed him as a man "committed to peace" and a "powerful voice for tolerance".
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz firmly placed Saudi Arabia at the centre of regional events and, for better or worse, his policies have had a profound impact on countries beyond the kingdom's borders.
But for all the talk of reform, Saudi Arabia stands out as the Middle East's most conservative state.
In the past year activists have spoken of increased influence by the country's clerical establishment and severe punishments for anyone calling for change.
Since the start of this year, Saudi Arabia has carried out 10 executions, jailed a human rights lawyer for 15 years and sentenced a liberal blogger to 1,000 lashes.
Two women who dared get behind the wheel of their car are now facing time behind bars on terror charges.
The country's vast oil reserves provided King Abdullah with currency and clout and he used it to spread Saudi influence throughout the Middle East; from neighbouring Yemen to Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
When Bahrain's monarchy was facing popular protests in 2011 he sent Saudi troops to brutally crush them.
At the forefront of his regional strategy was always the question of how to deal with Iran.
His attempts to counter Iranian involvement in the region would ultimately define the final 18 months of his reign and created a major fault line in the Middle East.
Saudi's ruling establishment were furious when they learnt the US - for decades their closest international ally - was negotiating with their Shi'a adversary over the latter's nuclear programme.
Adding to the strain in relations was Saudi's deep frustration at the perceived lack of support to opposition fighters battling President Assad in Syria.
They believed it was a lost opportunity to tip the balance of power away from Iran and in their favour.
Many have spoken of King Abdullah's "mixed legacy", in fact it's a legacy full of contradictions.
Saudi Arabia stands alongside Britain and America in the fight against the extremists of Islamic State while it pushes its own ultra-conservative interpretation of Islam around the globe.
Millions of dollars have been spent building schools and mosques espousing its Wahhabi doctrine – the same doctrine that's often been blamed for giving rise to and nurturing extremists.
Thousands of Saudi citizens fight abroad with militant groups in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.
It's an issue that's leading more people to question whether Saudi Arabia is part of the problem rather than the solution.
But as long as the country remains the world's largest oil producer, western allies will likely continue to turn a blind eye to the glaring contradictions in Saudi foreign policy as well as their dismal human rights record.
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