[1] The gardens are laid out around a central water basin and reservoir, next to which is a pleasure pavilion dating in its current form from the 19th century.

The reservoir and its pavilion, often framed in pictures against the background of the High Atlas Mountains to the south, are considered one of the iconic views and symbols of Marrakesh.

However, other historians, such as Gaston Deverdun, have suggested that the name could date from as far back as the Almohad period (long before the current pavilion's construction) and that it may be an allusion to the minaret of the Kutubiyya Mosque to the northeast, which was founded and begun under Abd al-Mu'min's reign and with which the gardens were more or less aligned.

[4][8][7][9] This dating has been deduced by scholars from historical chronicles describing Abd al-Mu'min's construction of an enormous garden estate west of the city which contained two large water reservoirs.

[3][10] Its name, meaning "basin of the cows", may be a reference to either a nearby cattle market at the time or to the raising of bulls for bullfighting which took place here under the later Caliph al-Mustansir.

[9] One historical source, the Ḥulal al-Mawshiyya, describes how the estate's second water basin (the Sahrij al-Bgar) was used at one point to train the ḥuffāẓ (singular ḥāfiẓ; meaning "Qur'an reader") how to swim.

[3]: 197 [7] The gardens and the city underwent a period of decline after the fall of the Almohads in the 13th century, when the Marinids moved the capital to Fez.

In addition to replanting the orchards and restoring the city's water supply system, Muhammad also built the current pavilion on the ruins of the old Saadian one, completed in 1870.

[3][13][4]) Up until the early 20th century the gardens were also used to raise ostriches, in line with a long tradition of sultans using wild animals to impress and entertain visitors.

[3]: 532 [4][12] The first floor, which was functional and used for domestic purposes, consists of a large room between four heavy pillars, plus an exterior triple-arched portico that projects northwards and opens onto the edge of the artificial lake.

The staircase to the upper floor also continues to the roof, where a much smaller balcony on the south side provided views over the orchards and towards the Atlas Mountains.

The door to the northern balcony overlooking the water is framed on the outside by a large, prominent, semi-circular blind arch highlighted with a keystone motif.

The spandrels of the arch are painted with arabesque motifs, above which a narrow horizontal band is filled by an Arabic inscription that includes the completion date of the building (1286 AH).