She has stated that her progressive-thinking father was responsible for her obtaining an education, in spite of the constraints of traditional Bedouin society especially on women.
[3] She gained a BA in Arabic literature from Zagazig University,[4] and then worked as a schoolteacher which allowed her to avoid early marriage.
[5] Notwithstanding, she eventually earned a Masters and a PhD from Cairo University, and learnt several languages: classical Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and English.
She was signed up by Hosni Soliman,[6] owner of Dar Sharqiyyat and publisher of some of the most critically acclaimed Egyptian literature of the 1990s.
She has also been translated into several languages including English, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Urdu, and Hindi.