 He deeply admired his "Eastern predecessor" Abu Nuwas.He was born and died in Cordoba during the reign of the Almoravids, to a family of possibly Gothic origins, as his name suggests and from the fact that he described himself as being blond and blue-eyed in several of his zajals .After leading a lifestyle similar to that of troubadours, traveling to Seville, Granada and Jaén, he became a mosque imam towards the end of his life.