Born in Damahn, the Capital of the Qumis district, south of the Caspian Sea. He is the most dominant Karaite figure in ninth-century Jerusalem. He preached for pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Jerusalem, and praised the Muslim authorities for their help. His writings are an important source concerning the renewal of the Jewish settlement in Jerusalem, and its relationship with the authorities.

His writings are influenced by the Jewish apocalyptic literature of the Second Temple period. Some scholars point to the similarity between his writings and those of the Judean desert sect. This is further attested in the writing of the head of the Nosterns in Baghdad (~800) who renders that ancient texts were found by Jews or maybe Karaites in a cave near Jericho.