His real name is Layachi Larbi. When Paul Bowles met him in 1960, walking on the beach Merkala worked vigilantly in a café and could not read or write but could tell stories. They reflected two of the most expensive to American writer topics: absolute fatalism and cultural clash between the West and the Arab world. This affinity, besides the literary quality of the stories, certainly infuyó breath Bowles loaned his friend to continue bringing them together in a tape to form a novel. The result was A life full of holes [A life full of holes] to publish Grove Press in the US in 1964.

As has Paul Bowles, "thanks to this book, Larbi, who ever thought possible for someone to pay for such a" job ", he earned enough money to look for a wife." Two years later, he panicked Layachi so Moroccan government's reaction to the French edition, Bowles finally get a visa and sailed for America escorted by William Burroughs. From there all traces of Larbi Layachi is lost, until the second half of the eighties, again under the pseudonym Charhadi two other novels appear: Yesterday and Today (1985) YA Jealous Lover (1986).