The early death of his father, an unwealthy man with a passion for reading and writing, came as a shock to him, his mother and sister while Mousa was just six years old.
After returning to Irbid and resuming his profession as a teacher for a brief period, he decided to make the journey to Jaffa (يافا) by train, which interconnected it with Damascus and was part of the Hejaz Railway built by the Ottoman Empire.
[9] This journey had a significant impact on his cultural life as it was then that he started borrowing and purchasing books and novels from neighbouring libraries and fulfilling his passion of reading.
[10] Mousa spent fifteen years in Mafraq and his publications were put close to a halt due to the inappropriate and illiterate environment he went through although he managed to publish a few short stories, articles and translations.
[1] Mousa's first book Al Hussein Bin Ali and the Great Arab Revolt was published in 1957 where it was written when the author had been resident of Jaffa, Palestine in early 1939, when he was a mere nineteen years of age.
[13] Mousa wrote in regard to his interest in English: An Arab writer must, with no doubt, know a language – in addition to his mother tongue – if he wishes to keep up with the course of world cultures and interact with them.
[14]Of the articles written by Suleiman Mousa in Jaffa that sparked widespread attention was an article published by the name "Lawrence on the balance" (لورنس في الميزان) in Al Adab (الآداب) magazine (November 1955) which discussed the book written by Richard Aldington called Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Inquiry, which had appeared in Britain earlier that year.
The idea of writing a book discussing the matter in an integrated manner from an Arab's perspective was based on the success the eight-page article received.
It was Professor Eugene Rogan from the University of Oxford who had remarked in a July 2000 speech: Suleiman Mousa drew the attention of Western readers when he published his famous book ‘T.E Lawrence: An Arab View'.
[4] Although Suleiman Mousa received numerous awards and honors during his lifetime, many projects have been launched posthumously in recognition of the contributions he has made to Jordanian, Middle Eastern and World history.
The establishment of the Library of Suleiman Mousa at the (GAM),[7] and the republishing of his complete works in several stages,[21] with an "aim of introducing history to the new generation", are amongst the most prominent of these projects.
On 11 November 2009, a library dedicated for the history of Jordan under the name of Suleiman Mousa,[22] located at Al Hussein Cultural Center of the GAM, was inaugurated on behalf of the former Mayor of Amman, Omar Maani.
At the inauguration, City Deputy Manager for Cultural, Social, and Sports Affairs, Haitham Jweinat, referred to the uniqueness of the new library, and said that it will be open for all interested readers and researchers, noting that the GAM had taken the time to equip it with many facilities, including an internet local area network (LAN) and the availability of international magazines and newspapers.