Introduced by Hamza Al-Aqqad – 2/9/2026
There is a place that is a gem of Amman. It is called the Place of Water, because the owner, Hamza Maaytah, believed that books should flow with the same ease that water does amongst us, and that they are equally as important as water.
Hamza collects and sells rare books out of his timeless van. I had met Hamza a few times. We would talk about anything from the history of Jordan, to masculinity and femininity, to my family’s origin. Once I asked him if he could find me a book that was only published in the West Bank, and that book has been unobtainable till today. He calls me by a nickname that I have only ever heard him say, Homz; I guess we need to differentiate our names somehow. I don’t know what sent my friends and I to Jabal Al-Lweibdeh at 2 am that night, and I don’t know why Hamza was still there by his van.
Does this man ever rest?
That is what I thought to myself. His dedication to what he loves is truly inspiring. Talking to him is a joy, his words flow like water. We were talking about Nepotism in the Arab world and he without stuttering begins reciting a poem by Ali Ibn Abu Taleb that goes:
Whose praiseworthy praise will replace any need for noble lineage
For a man of noble birth is not helped by his lineage
Without a tongue and good character of his own
Indeed, the true youth is he who says Here I am
Not the youth who says, My father was
When I asked him if he does any writing of his own, he sent me this poignant poem, one inspired by tragedy but still somehow full of hope. His previous bookshop had been flooded, as you can see in the video below.
Pronouncing his final pages
After the flood in Amman had ended
and the waters receded and the matter was settled
and the books leveled upon the shelves
my night began…
My night has not ended.
For two days now I have been practicing my craft and I am not satisfied
I drift to sleep, weaving a vision
I awake and execute it
My night is an idea the orchestra has played
I heard its echo I will repeat it and repeat it
I embrace pages that have died
I revive in a language drawn by eyes
I turn through her face
searching within it for the lesson
I sweep it with my eyelashes
wipe it with the pupil of my eye
touch it with water
Tonight we will revive the dead
We will bring them forth once more
and in their presence kindle a radiant light a ray emerging from there
where the tent of candles stands
Whoever comes to it obtains a spark
or perhaps even
finds upon it guidance
I was left, and still remain speechless.
And since I struggle to articulate how this poem made me feel, I will inform you of the initiative the Hamza birthed from this, in his own words.
“The cover” — only that. So imagine the contents? The cover is something “important for evaluating the book.” For that reason, we launched the initiative “Reviving the Dead.” Those that lost their covers through poor storage… or sank and were swept away by the flood, as happened recently in the “Amman Flood.” We have saved many lives, by making a cover of a single kind. I examine its contents to determine its identity, and after that I make for it a design… a fitting one.
And so, God willing, it will live again.
“The thirst for a book is like thirst for water... Some old books have torn covers, so I create a new cover for them bearing the same name, in my own handwriting, and I write the name of the book, its author, publisher, printing house, year, introduction, etc., in order to bring the book back to life, especially if it is an old and rare edition. This is despite the fact that some books and manuscripts appear shabby and old; nevertheless, I appreciate the value of every used book that reaches me.”
I will end this with a link to a video of Hamza reciting a poem of his regarding his bookstore, and his Water Initiative, with the motto: Take a book and read, pay any price you please”.
You can also hear him sing and play the oud.
Click the picture to return home.