Since the 11th century Hijri (15th century CE), the most famous people have inhabited Najaf, and individuals named al-Najafi have earned the title “Bejeweled” (or al-Jawahiri) for their relationship to the book of fiqh values (religious scholarship) which one of his family's ancestors Shaykh Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi had written.

[citation needed] From a young age, he received solid grounding in the Arabic language studies, philosophy, rhetoric, and traditional Islamic sciences, which would help him in his later academic career.

Due to Najaf's historic poetic nature, it benefitted the young poet and helped develop him childhood passion for poetry.

[citation needed] In the late 1920s, al-Jawhiri wrote of the relationship between King Faisal I and Arab Nationalists Sati' al-Husri.

Due to this case, and also knowing that the poet came from an old Iraqi family that had a patriotic stance, Faisal I recruited al-Jawahiri as part of his royal court.

[10] After a meeting with Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr, who was a supporter against al-Husri's allegations,[10] al-Jawahiri put on modest traditional robes and headed to King Faisal I's palace who congratulated him on his new position.

Al-Jawahiri has also recorded that the King's office was a simple room with a table, a carpet, four chairs, a portrait of himself, and another of French writer Anatole France.

[12] In 1929, King Faisal I opened the first girls' school in Najaf and received backlash from the conservative groups in the traditionalist city.

In this coffeehouse, al-Jawahiri would meet various younger poets, including a young Mardan, seeking his advice and encouragement.

[17] Between 1930 and 1961, he edited a total of twelve newspapers, usually short-lived, which were often closed due to the uncompromising opinions he expressed, among others, freedom of speech.

[13][18] Al-Jawahiri played a big role in demonstrations against the 1948 Anglo-Iraqi treaty signed by the Salih Jabr government.

Al-Jawahiri was touched by the event and he would famously recite the poem at the Haydar-Khana Mosque to an audience of Muslims, and Jews forty days after his brother's funeral.

[20] In 1954 he decided to write a poem on the occasion of the coronation of King Faisal II, who reigned from 1953 until his murder in 1958, and his situation improved, although he was later to regret this step.

Why is it whenever a violent storm shakes us thoroughly we resort to pen and paper?Did the writers or the poets rescue Sham [Syria] or Baghdad by their writings?

In these lines, al-Jawahiri conveys to the reader that only forceful action can be useful and relied on by the people to fight against the British Empire and France.

The second criticism that the poet conveyed through these lines centers around the Arabs relying on British and French support and their complete trust in them.

[22] As a result of constant harassment by the police due to his harsh criticism of Nuri al-Said's policies, he left for Syria in 1956 as a self-inflicted exile.

However, he would soon start to edit his last newspaper that was the leftist al-Ra'i al-'Am (The Public Opinion) which was characterized by its opposition towards Qasim's rule which was described as "authoritarian.

In the 1990s, his Iraqi citizenship was withdrawn from him again due to his participation in the annual al-Jenadriyah Festival held in Saudi Arabia in 1994.

According to an interview with his daughter, Khayal al-Jawahiri, conducted by al-Jazeera: “My father caught a cold when he was participating in a literary conference in the former Soviet Union, and the doctors advised him to wear a head covering due to an allergy in his head, so a velvet hat that was on display in a store caught his attention.” The hospital, so he wore it, and since then it stayed with him until his death, and he did not take it off even while sleeping."

[25] Al-Jawahiri died at dawn on Sunday, 27 July 1997 AD in a hospital in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and his funeral was attended by the political and military officials of the state, in addition to a large popular presence.

[14] Due to his skilled talent and keen patriotism, al-Jawahiri gained great recognition both among literary critics and the widest layers of Iraqi society.

His work was noted for responding to the demands of the Iraqi audience for poetry that was engaged and at the same time continued old Arab literary traditions.

"[28] In 2022, the house of al-Jawahiri, built in 1971 and located in al-Qādisīyah district of Baghdad, was renovated to become a cultural museum dedicated to the poet and his career.