[2] Her father was Bayan bar Manu,[3] while her paternal grandfather was Sheikh Amara, who worked for the British during World War II.

[3] Her mother, the sister of Rabbi Dakhil Aidan, belonged to the Manduia priestly lineage.

[3] She left Iraq in 1978 and lived most of her exile in San Diego, United States after emigrating during the time of Saddam Hussein.

[5][a] Together with her sister Shafia Abbas Amara, she published a magazine called Mandaee in the United States, which was mostly in Arabic but also partially in English.

[6] She kept the manuscripts inside white cotton cloth bags containing musk grains, considered to be the scent of Life by Mandaeans.