He wrote the lyrics of Kassaman, the national anthem of Algeria, purportedly with his own blood while imprisoned by the French in 1955.

Of Mozabite origin,[1] he spent the early years of his life in the M'zab region of Algeria.

[2] It was said that he wrote the poem on the walls of his cell using his own blood because he had neither pencils nor paper to write in the prison.

[5] His poetry was believed to be largely influenced by the work of Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawqi.

[8] A film was made on him in 2012 by Saïd Oulmi, titled "Moufdi Zakaria, Poet of the Revolution".