Before the end of his first year, he dropped out to work at the Qena Court of Justice, the Customs Departments in Suez and Alexandria and the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization.

[2]: 15, 66–67 Dunqul met his future wife, Egyptian journalist Abla El-Rowainy, after she decided to conduct a series of interviews with him for her newspaper, Akhbar el-Yom.

[2]: 20 Upon moving to Cairo, Dunqul cultivated friendships with Egypt's new generation of artists, especially with Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi and Yahya Taher Abdullah.

He knew everything that went on, marriages, divorces, lawsuits, debts, profits, travels, strengths and weaknesses, dreams and ambitions [...] and he would use that knowledge to attack his rivals.

Idris would go on to publish and defend many of Dunqul's most controversial poems, including The Stone Cake (Arabic: الكعكة الحجرية), which was written in praise of the 1977 Egyptian bread riots against President Sadat.

[4] When asked, Idris would reply: “If the poet was brave enough to write such a poem, would it be too brave for me to publish it?”[2]: 42  Due to Dunqul's reputation as a fighter who courted political controversy as well as his frequent usage of themes from Greek mythology and history, he was nicknamed "Hercules" by critic Hasan Tawfiq and "Spartacus" by the future Egyptian Minister of Culture Gaber Asfour.

[2]: 63, 64 Dunqul was present at the meeting at Ahmed Hijazi's home on August 15, 1981, where Bahgat Osman's harsh criticism of Salah Abdulsaboor caused the latter a fatal heart attack.

The couple decorated the room with newspaper clippings of Dunqul's poems and, among other things, a get-well-soon card from Yasser Arafat and a portrait of their recently-deceased friend Yahya Taher Abdullah.

They are, in chronological order:[2]: 128 While Dunqul initially showed promising signs of recovery in response to radiotherapy, he suffered from sudden kidney failure and uremia, and his health started to decline dramatically.

[4] Dunqul's popularity and works saw a revival upon the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 alongside other leftist poets and songwriters such as Ahmed Fouad Negm, with excerpts of his poems being shared widely on social media as well as appearing in numerous graffiti.

Dunqul published six poetry collections: Some of his most famous poems include The Last Words of Spartacus (Arabic: كلمات سبارتكوس الأخيرة), which starts: المجد للشيطان ... معبود الرياحمن قال لا في وجه من قالوا نعممن علم الانسان تمزيق العدممن قال لا ... فلم يمتوظل روحا أبدية الألمGlory to Satan, God of the windHe who said "No" in the face of those who said "Yes"He who taught Man how to smash oblivionHe who said "No", and so never diedAnd became an eternal soul, tortured forever[6]The poem alludes to the refusal of Satan to prostrate himself before Adam in Islamic tradition.

[4] The poem spread across the Arab world as a refusal of the Camp David peace treaty with Israel, signed by Egyptian President Sadat.

كان قلبي الذي نسجته الجروحكان قلبي الذي لعنته الشروحيرقد الآن فوق بقايا المدينةوردة من عطنهادئابعد أن قال لا للسفينةو أحب الوطنMy heart, crossed by woundsMy heart, filled with scarsLay now over the ruins of the cityA flower, injuredAnd yet, calmAfter it said "No" to the ArkAnd loved its homeland.

[8]This was considered deeply blasphemous, since it portrayed a traditionally rebellious disbeliever punished by God as a brave, principled man who refused to leave his homeland.