Donqol was known for his politically-colored poetry. At the beginning, Greek mythology dominated his writing. Later, however, he relied more on pre-Islamic and Islamic imagery to modernize Arabic poetry.

Donqol's father, an Azhar graduate, who wrote classic poetry, possessed a library full of books in the various Islamic disciplines of which his son took advantage. He died, however, when Donqol was ten years old and at such an early age, the son became responsible for a mother and two younger brothers.

He completed his secondary education in Qena in 1957. In 1958, he enrolled in the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. Before the end of his first year, he dropped out to work for a living as an employee at the Qena Court of Justice, the Customs Departments in Suez and Alexandria and the Afro-Asian Solidarity Organization. But he was always running away to poetry.

Donqol died in 1983 after a long illness.

Famous works
Al-bokaa bayn yadai Zarqaa al-Yamama (Crying on the Shoulders of Zarqaa al-Yamam) – Beirut 1969
Taaliq alla ma hadeth (Commenting on What Happened) – Beirut 1971
Maqtal al-qamar (Death of the Moon) – Beirut 1974
Al-'ahd al-aati (The Forthcoming Epoch) – Beirut 1975
Aqwaal gadida an harb al-Bassous (New Statements Regarding the Bassous War) – Cairo 1983
Awraq al-ghorfa 8 (Documents of Room No. 8)