He wrote his first story in the age of 16 and began to work as a journalist for Radio Bagdhad and a weekly magazine when he was still a student. His novel The Journey to Tell al-Lahm was published by Carl Hanser publishing in 2004 and by DTV in 2010. Having become a bestseller and been reprinted several times – especially in the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Egypt, the book soon advanced to a cult novel.