[1] Al-Saraqusti was educated in the Taifa kingdom of Zaragoza and exhibited a high degree of learning.
He wrote poetry, maqama, love poems, panegyrics (formal speeches) and lexicons.
In these anecdotes, the protagonist is a rogue or confidence trickster, named Abu Habib and his exploits are narrated by Mundir b. Humam, as he has heard them refer to Saib b. Tammam - friend and often a victim of Abu Habib's deceptions.
His work first came to the attention of the West with the translation of the 5th and 6th maqama into Latin by the jurist, Asso Del Río in the Bibliotheca Arabico-aragonensis in 1762.
[7] He has been described as the finest exponent of the maqama genre in al-Andalus, and his Maqamat Al-luzumiyah has been described as a “masterpiece”.