He was a man-of-letters and a playwright. He was famous as a short story pioneer in Egypt. He was born in 1894 in Darb Saada District, the popular location where factions of different kinds lived, and from which he got his story background.

He grew up in a cultured family. His father was "Ahmed Ben Ismail Taymour" Pasha, a bookworm linguist. His aunt was Aisha Al-Tymoureya, his father's eldest sister and her brother was the reputed Mohamed Taymour, an early short-story writer and playwright.

Mahmoud got his education in Egyptian schools. When he traveled to Switzerland for medical treatment, he got the chance to study both the French and the Russian literatures.

Mahmoud Taymour is regarded as one of early short story writers in Arabic literature. He was famous for his plentiful literary achievements: novels, short stories, literary studies….etc.

He started writing stories in colloquial language in 1919 being affected by realists such as Checkov and Mupassan : their effect is clear in his early writings where he described the lower classes in towns and villages. His first short stories were issued in 1921, Sheikh Gomaa, 1925 Sayyed the idiot, 1928 Ragab Effendi, and 1930 Haj Shalabi.

His writings varied later on as he wrote novels where romantic impact was clear in some of them such as : "Call of the unknown" 1939, and "Cleopatra in Khan al-Khalili" 1946.

M. Taymour wrote also some plays including "Eternal Eve" 1945, "Today to play" 1949, and "Hawk of Qureish" 1956.

He died on 25-08-1973.