Internationally, he was recognized as a leading authority on a wide variety of Islamic subjects, modern history and the politics of the Middle East.

From 1939 to 1947 he worked for the Iraqi Ministry of Education and as a law professor at the Higher Teachers College.

In 1946 he was a member of the first Iraqi delegation to the United Nations and helped draft the organization's charter.

He married Madjia Dawaff,[3] who died in 1972, and had two children: Farid and Shirin, who in turn gave him three grandchildren.

He then taught at Johns Hopkins University, where he founded the SAIS Middle Eastern Studies program and served until 1970.