The principal source of the life of Alroy is Benjamin of Tudela's Travels.[6] This version is followed in its main outlines by Solomon ibn Verga, in his Shebeṭ Yehudah.[7] Ibn Verga states, on the authority of Maimonides, that when asked for a proof that he was truly the Messiah, Alroy (or David El-David, as Ibn Verga and David Gans in his ẒemaḦ David call him) replied, "Cut off my head and I shall yet live." David Gans, Gedaliah ibn Yahya (in his Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah), who calls him David Almusar, and R. Joseph ben Isaac Sambari closely follow Benjamin of Tudela's version.[8] The name Menahem ibn Alruhi ("the inspired one"), and the concluding episode of the imposters of Baghdad, are derived from the contemporaneous chronicle of the apostate, Samuel ibn Abbas.[9] The name Menahem (i.e., the comforter) was a common Messianic appellation.