Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi (, 11 April 1938 – 21 April 2015) was a popular Egyptian poet, and later a children's books writer. He was one of a generation of poets who favored to write their work in the Egyptian dialect (in Abnudi's case, Upper Egyptian dialect) rather than Standard Arabic, the formal language of the state. This literary stance was associated with a militant political engagement: Abnudi and other Egyptian writers of this school sought to make their literary production part of the process of political development and movement towards popular democracy in Egypt.

Life

He was born in the village Abnud in Upper Egypt. He wrote his first poetry when he was a high school student. In 1958, he traveled to Cairo. First of his works were published in the weekly magazine Sabah al-Khayr. In 1961, he moved to Cairo where he worked as a songwriter. He married the former President of the Egyptian Television Network and television presenter and interviewer Nehal Kamal, and they had two children: Aya and Nour.

Works

Many of his works have been set to music by composers including Ezz Eddin Hosni and performed by popular singers such as Abd El Halim, Nagat el Saghera, Shadia, Sabah, Majida El Roumi, Mohamed Mounir and others.

Most famous poetry

Songs for many singers