Shawqī, a member of a family attached to the khedivial court, was sent by the khedive to France to study at Montpellier and Paris universities. On his return the path of quick promotion lay open to him, and by 1914 he was the leading literary figure in Egypt. He spent 1914–19 in exile in Spain but on his return continued to dominate the Egyptian literary scene. In 1927 he was proclaimed amīr al-shuʿarāʾ.
Shawqī was a prolific poet with a fine command of rhyme and diction, his themes ranging from conventional eulogy to poetic plays following such Western models as Shakespeare, Corneille, and Racine. While his efforts at imitating the ancient Arabic poets were unsuccessful, he adapted traditional poetic metres to dramatic dialogue in several poetic plays, such as Maṣraʿ Kliyūbātrā (“The Fall of Cleopatra”).