At the age of five, Sabri Raghib’s talent for drawing first manifested itself. The walls of the house were covered with random scratches, lines, curves and circles. "My family had to re-paint the walls over and over in quick succession, a matter that caused troubles. One of my relatives who was working as an art teacher in Shubra secondary school had the solution. He bought me sheets of white papers and watercolors. He stuck the papers over the wall and that was the real beginning," Raghib said.

He was deeply affected by a calligraphist and painter named Mansour who drew pictures of Jesus Christ, Mary the Virgin and the journey of the Holy Family to Egypt.

In 1937, Raghib joined the Faculty of Fine Arts against the will of his mother who wanted him to be a doctor. His father on the contrary always supported him.

In 1951, Raghib came back. He was enrolled in the Faculty of Fine Arts. He graduated in 1952. For a time, he worked as an art teacher, a period he described as "one of the most flourishing in my artistic and educational career".

Elegance, stability and charm are the hallmark of Sabri Raghib’s style. He is an impressionist in that the effects are produced by light and colour rather than by details or form.