He studied the violin privately with the German Joseph von Aubervon, a student of Jan Kubelick, and joined the school's choir and band where he played the clarinet and French horn.
His violin teacher obtained a scholarship for him to study at the Berlin Conservatory, however, his father objected to his interest in pursuing a musical career.
He then studied piano, theory, harmony, composition and orchestration with the Italian Menato and the Russian Orlovitsky who were part of a community of European musicians and music teachers who lived and worked in cosmopolitan Cairo.
He also came in contact with the music of several contemporary composers, most notably the Russian Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), the Armenian Aram Khatchturian (1903 – 1978) and the Azerbajianis Uzeyir Hadjibekov (1885 – 1948), Kara Karayev (1918 -1982) and Fikret Amirov (1922 – 1984).
In 1968, his Symphonic Poem Abu Simbel and his piano concerto were performed by the Moscow Cinema Orchestra conducted by Aram Khatchaturian with Alexander Bakhtchiev as soloist.
In the third period (1966– 1993) he composed the ballet Isis and Osiris, the first opera in the Arabic language, Anas Al-Wugud, the Oman Symphony as well as numerous chamber music works.