Some people may be surprised by this confession… and those who enter into a bet with others about my nature may dance with joy… Am I an intelligence man?!… But I say it loudly… Yes… I am a patriotic Jordanian intelligence man… but without a military number… no certificate of appointment… no rank… no salary… no office… and no reference for people or institutions…

My national number is my identity and my certificate of appointment… and the level of people’s trust in what I say… and their love for me is my rank… and the security salary is what enters my pocket… As for Jordan, its security and protection… it is my reference that I do not renounce… and I am proud to belong to it…

Returning to the title… some may think that the answer to a question like this is linguistic… or official… but in reality it is philosophical and national… because intelligence… is not just a body with buildings… and numbers… and files… rather, it is the idea of the homeland when it opens its eyes to protect itself… it is the eye of the homeland that never sleeps… and its conscience that does not compromise… However, belonging to it is not measured by cards or rank… but by feeling… whoever loves… His homeland honestly… and he defended it with his mind, pen, tongue and awareness… He practiced the highest levels of intelligence work… without wearing an official uniform… or holding a certificate of appointment…

And everyone who detects danger before it occurs… or extinguishes strife before it ignites… or exposes the falsehood of a rumor before it becomes a fire… is in essence an intelligence man for his country… because he works with the same mind that the agency works with… but he does so out of a purely patriotic motive… not with an order, assignment, or salary…

As for the person affiliated with the official apparatus… he has another responsibility… to protect the homeland with the tools of the state… and to read beyond words… and distinguish between criticism and insults… and between jealousy and hostility… while the loyal citizen… works with pure intentions… sees that information is a trust… a word is a responsibility… and silence about strife is a betrayal…

Hence I say… not every intelligence man is necessarily a good citizen… but every honest and good citizen… can be an intelligence man in the noblest sense… when he makes the security of his homeland a part of his blood and conscience… not his job…

The writer who sheds light on corruption without fraud… or defamation… or blackmail… so he puts his hand on the wound to treat it… not to show it in front of the cameras for the sake of defamation and fame… is a national intelligence man of the highest caliber… and the teacher who guards the minds of our children from loss… is also an intelligence man… and the doctor who does not compromise on the pain of a patient at a critical hour… and the merchant who does not get upset… People’s pockets in crises… and the citizen who closes his ears to rumours… all of these form a parallel national apparatus… not governed by laws… as much as it is governed by morals, consciences… and sincere belonging…

I became an intelligence man… when I decided not to see corruption and to remain silent… not to hear rumors and to be honest… and not to write for an interest… or gain… or fame… but because the country deserves to be written about honestly… and with awareness… and responsibility… I do not carry a weapon… nor an order of movement… but I proudly carry an awareness that exposes falsehood… an unyielding determination… and a belief that protecting Jordan… begins with the word… and ends On conscience…

We are all intelligence men… when we are alert… not suspicious… believers… not afraid… sincere… not profiteering… when we realize that protecting the homeland… does not require an entry permit to the intelligence building… rather, it requires a heart that does not sleep… when Jordan is mentioned badly… or a malicious attempt is made to harm it…

Yes… I am an intelligence man… like every honorable Jordanian who does not sell his dignity for a cheap price… or for treasures… and does not compromise on his homeland… because intelligence is not a place we join… but an idea we are born with… a conscience we live by… and a banner that does not fall… as long as there is someone among us who does not sleep while guarding it…