Mohammed Aziz needs just two pillows and a book to enjoy his day. The 71-year-old bookseller spends between six and eight hours a day reading. He only stops to eat, pray, smoke, and help customers.
The devout bookseller has read over 4,000 books he has had in his bookstore since 1967 in Rabat Medina, Morocco. He read every single book, whether in Arabic, French, English, or Spanish.
Aziz became an orphan at the age of six. He attempted fishing as a means to support his dream of graduating high school. At 15, he awoke to the reality that he would be unable to finish his education because the textbooks were too expensive. However, not being in class did not stop him from learning.
Angry and without a diploma, Aziz began a career as a bookseller in 1963 under the shade of a tree, with a rug and nine books. Now, he runs a shop in the heart of Rabat and owns thousands of books.
His vendetta on an education loss in Morocco has been bringing literature to the Rabat medina for decades.
“This is how I take my revenge on my childhood, my situation, and my poverty,” Aziz told Morocco World News, disturbing a precarious tower of outdated magazines by waving at his shop.
The sight of him reading by the door frame of his five-by-five-foot bookshop has become a landmark of Mohammed V Avenue, which runs through the heart of the old city in Rabat.
Aziz works a 12-hour day. He begins with a walk around Rabat’s neighbourhoods, searching for book vendors with similarly humble setups at the start of his career. After buying the best from the competition, Aziz heads to the shop and adds his new books to the stacks. When asked how many books he has crammed into his store, he replied, “Not enough.”
Aziz keeps his shop open to give the public a chance to read and hope to strengthen their faith as well—if not in God, then in themselves.
“I’ll be here till everyone can read,” Aziz said. “I’ve read more than 4,000 books, so I’ve lived more than 4,000 lives. Everyone should have that chance.” But he knows not everyone does.
Only two things infuriate the devout 71-year-old bookseller: missing pages in books and children working instead of studying.
Mohammed Aziz said, “My life revolves around reading. In life, I care most about my ability to read and that I can read until the end of it.”
