He was born in Tamirab,[1] a village near Ad-Dāmar in Sudan, during the Anglo-Egyptian condominium and received his primary education in Kassala, Ad-Damar and Berber.
El Tayib occupied leading academic and administrative positions at universities in Khartoum, Juba and Kano, Nigeria.
His scholarly work was dedicated to the history and development of Arabic poetry from pre-Islamic to modern times, as well as to editions of folk tales of Sudan.
In their tribute to his work, the judges of this prize wrote: "The first three volumes are regarded as the most thorough analysis known of the composition, rhythm, unity and other features of Arabic poetry since pre-Islamic eras.
The fourth volume – a landmark text of over 1,500 pages – includes exhaustive details of the role of both ancient and modern Arab literary critics, the development of the Arabic poem through the centuries and its impact on European poets from Dante to Andrew Marvel, Blake and the Romantic poets.