[1] His poetry is set in free verse, based on spoken language and unrivalled in contemporary Arabic literature in its spontaneity.
For the Moroccan youth of the politically and socially repressive years of the 1970s, he represented the ideal of poetic writing, of freedom of living and expression.
[2] Zrika grew up in the poor neighbourhood of Ben M'Sick in metropolitan Casablanca.
The literary magazine Words without Borders gave the following account of the book and its author: "In these so-called "years of lead" of political repression & student unrest, the book was an immediate popular success with the younger Moroccan generation — as were the many poetry readings he gave to audiences that often numbered in the thousands.
"[3] In 1978, six of his poems were deemed morally dangerous by the authorities, and Zrika was sentenced to two years in prison.