Ali finished the fourth class in the El-Salemeaa primary school when his father transferred again to Meroë (Merowe) in the Northern State, a place which he later wrote much about.
His interest in music began even earlier when listening to Mohamed Ahmed Sarror, Karoma, and Abdallah El-Mahhi.
He then moved to the United States, earning a master's degree in public administration in 1966 from the University of Southern California.
Ali worked as an expert and as a professor at the Translation and Arabization Unit in Khartoum University (1983–1992).
El-Makk also edited collections of Arabic poetry by Sudanese poets Khalil Farah[2] and Abdallah Al-Banna.