The work was written by Anselm Turmeda, a Majorcan writer and former Catholic friar who lived in Tunis and converted to Islam.

It is of Arabic inspiration,[1] even though it incorporates an important portion of original elements, such as the literary style and a strong feeling of anti-clericalism.

No manuscript of the original work has been preserved, except for a small part containing a prophecy pronounced by the donkey during the discussion with the monk.

[2] There is evidence that the novel was printed in Barcelona in its original Catalan version in 1509,[3] but no copy of this edition has been preserved (probably due to the fact that, in 1583, the Spanish Inquisition included the work to its list of prohibited books).

It was not until relatively recently (less than a century ago) that the work was rescued from oblivion mostly by Spanish and Catalan scholars.