Afer was born in 185 BC. , Taken away from his village by Roman legionary in the region of Hippo (now Annaba in the eastern Algeria), "Afer" means in Berber: the inhabitant of Africa (Roman province of eastern North Africa (Tamazgha in Berber) which includes the present Tunisia and Libya).

We cannot talk about Berber literature without referring to Apuleius who belongs to an era where literature was at the dawn of its expansion before the Renaissance comes to the world. The fact that all his work is essentially bundled in one book, does not deny his importance in the Berber literature growth. Some even consider him as the father of the novel.