Morocco’s beloved bookseller
- A viral post celebrated Mohamed Aziz, a Moroccan bookseller who began with nine books in 1963 and now owns thousands. - Aziz has read more than 4,000 books across languages and keeps stock unchained, saying 'Those who can read won't steal.' - The human-interest story accumulated thousands of likes and reposts amid World Book Day's focus on reading culture (x.com).
Mohamed Aziz, a bookseller in Rabat’s old medina, is drawing fresh global attention in April 2026 after a viral social-media post recirculated his decades-long life among books. (news18.com) Widely shared accounts say Aziz began selling books in 1963 with nine volumes laid out on a rug, then opened a permanent shop in 1967 and stayed in the same area for decades. Morocco World News reported in 2019 that he had already spent more than 43 years in the same spot on Mohammed V Avenue in Rabat’s medina. (news18.com) (moroccoworldnews.com) Aziz lost his parents at age 6 and left school at 15 because he could not afford textbooks, according to multiple profiles. He later told Morocco World News, “This is how I take my revenge on my childhood, my situation, my poverty.” (news18.com) (moroccoworldnews.com) The story is circulating again on April 23, World Book and Copyright Day, the annual United Nations and UNESCO observance tied to reading and publishing. News18 said the latest wave followed a widely shared Instagram post about Aziz’s life and his shop. (un.org) (news18.com) Aziz’s appeal online rests on a specific kind of self-education story: a man without formal schooling who kept reading anyway. News18 said he taught himself through books in Arabic, French, English and Spanish, while Morocco World News quoted him saying he had read more than 4,000 books. (news18.com) (moroccoworldnews.com) His shop is also part of the legend. News18 said posts about Aziz often repeat a line attributed to him — “Those who can’t read won’t steal books. And those who can, aren’t thieves” — to explain why books are left openly accessible. (news18.com) Morocco World News described the store in 2019 as a five-by-five-foot space selling everything from tabloid magazines priced at 5 Moroccan dirhams to medical textbooks priced at 700 dirhams. The same report said Aziz worked 12-hour days and averaged one or two sales a day. (moroccoworldnews.com) That 2019 profile placed Aziz’s work against Morocco’s literacy record, citing High Commission for Planning figures showing the national illiteracy rate fell from 87% in 1960 to 32% in 2014. Aziz told the outlet he wanted to stay until “everyone can read.” (moroccoworldnews.com) The facts that recur most often across profiles are the simplest ones: the rug, the nine books, the tiny shop, and the man reading at the doorway in Rabat. More than 60 years after he started selling books, Aziz is still being passed around the internet as a bookseller who built a life by reading. (news18.com) (moroccoworldnews.com)
