Rabbi Avraham ibn Musa, son of Rabbi Shlomo, was born around 1660, probably in Tetouan, Morocco, where he studied under Rabbi Yaakov Maraji. He later moved to Salé, where he became one of its sages. A rabbi, liturgical poet, halachic authority and kabbalist, he knew both the revealed and hidden Torah perfectly; according to the Chida, he debated with Rabbi Avraham Azulai of Marrakesh, one of Morocco's great kabbalists, over the interpretation of the Arizal's writings.

A very poor man, imbued with holiness and purity, to whom miracles and deliverances are attributed, he was always immersed in a book and through Torah forgot his hunger and material worries. What pained him most was the suffering of his fellow Jews in exile.

At the end of his life he left Morocco for Tunisia, arriving with his wife in great discretion, exhausted and hungry from the journey. In Tunis he became av beit din and rosh yeshiva, and a revered figure around whom many stories grew. Among his students were Rabbi Mordechai Carvalho, author of Mira Dachya, and Rabbi Yaakov Lumbroso. Most of his many writings remained in manuscript; some, such as Minchat Sotah on tractate Sotah, have been published recently.

He passed away in Tunis on 21 Adar 5493 (1733).