[1] He is especially well known as the founder of a Sufi school or tariqa, which was based on the teachings of Ibn Masarra, and as the author of Mahasin al-Majalis (The Attractions of Mystical Sessions).
Ibn al-Arif was born in Ceuta,[2] and spent most of his life in Almeria in Al-Andalus at the height of the Almoravid power.
His father had once been 'arif in Tangier, that is to say he was employed as head of the guard responsible for keeping watch in the town at night.
He and Ibn Barrajan, another Andalusian Sufi based in Seville, gathered around themselves a large number of followers, which attracted the attention of the Almoravid authorities.
In 1141 both men were called to Marrakesh by the sultan Ali ibn Yusuf, where they were accused of "professing heterodox doctrines.