The first Egyptian actress, wife and life-time partner of Egyptian theatre pioneer George Abiad, Dawlat Abiad was born on January 29, 1894, with the maiden name of Dawlat Habeeb Boutros Qasabgi.

Abiad's talent for drama acting was quite manifest since she was a student at the boarding school and her passion for acting became stronger, when she met the then famous drama artist Aziz Eid who, impressed by her beauty and talent, invited her to join his drama troupe as the main actress. She left her family and moved to Alexandria, the seat of Eid's theatrical troupe. However, Abiad did not like the type of drama presented there, being mainly comedies, and therefore left one month later. Eid sent her to al-Rihani's troupe, which was also presenting comedies. She stayed only for four days and left for the same reason. Al-Rihani in turn sent her to George Abiad who was presenting the drama genre she had been looking for; tragedies.

At the age of 23, the opportunity came knocking on her door, when the actress playing Queen Jocuste in Oedipus fell and Abiad played the part so well that she attracted the admiration of George Abiad.

Dawlat Abiad personified major classical roles at George Abiad's theatre, prominent of which was Desdemona in Othello and Delilah in Samson and Delilah.

In the cinema, she took part in the film Zeinab directed by Mohammad Kareem in the forties, in addition to other films such as "The Gentry", "The White Rose", "Teenagers" and "M's Empire" in 1973, which was her last.

Abiad also worked for several other troupes including Munira al-Mahdeya and Sayyed Darweesh.

She received the state Award for Pioneer Acting and the Nile Cinema Award.