He attended the lessons of the major scholars of Damascus: Husni al-Baghghal, Muhammad Barakat, 'Ali al-Daqar, Ismail al-Tibi, and Lutfi al-Hanafi.

However, his most important teacher was Muhammad al-Hashimi, an Algerian Sufi from Tlemcen who had already been living in Syria for twenty years before becoming the representative of Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, spiritual master of the Shadhili tariqa.

Al-Shaghouri's poetry draws on Arabic and Islamic literary tradition, and combines a genuine spiritual experience with a great mastery of poetical techniques.

He published his poems in a diwan which he edited towards the end of his life, titled "Al-hada’iq al-nadiyya fī al-nasamat al-ruhiyya" ("The dewy gardens in the spiritual breezes").

His legacy and renown has also become widespread (particularly in the English-speaking world) through two American students whom he authorized in the Shadhili tariqa, Nuh Ha Mim Keller and Zaid Shakir.

Collections of his poems Al-hada’iq al-nadiyya fī al-nasamat al-ruhiyya ("The Dewy Gardens in the Spiritual Breezes"), Damascus, Dār fajr al-‘urūba, 2nd ed., 1998.