According to the introduction of Colville's English translation, Muḥammad al-Nafzawi probably wrote The Perfumed Garden sometime during the twelfth century. Sheikh Nefzawi was born among the Berber Nefzawa tribe in the south of present-day Tunisia. He compiled it at the request of the Hafsid ruler of Tunis, Abū Fāris ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Mutawakkil. The reputation acquired by this work in the Arab world was similar to that of the Arabian Nights.