An Egyptian Islamic scholar and writer. He was born in the village of Sharshaba, in the Zifta district of the Gharbia Governorate in Egypt, in the month of Muharram 1350 AH (June 1, 1931 CE). He was the first child born to his parents. Following the custom in rural areas at that time, Najib al-Kilani enrolled in the village Quranic school (kuttab) at the age of four, remaining there until he was seven, during which time he memorized most of the Quran. After completing his secondary education, he joined the Qasr al-Aini Faculty of Medicine, graduating in 1960 CE. He traveled to the United Arab Emirates in 1968 CE, where he worked as a doctor and later as the Director of Health Education. He then returned to his hometown of Tanta to face a fierce battle with pancreatic cancer, which lasted only six months. He passed away one day after Eid al-Fitr, in Shawwal 1415 AH (March 1995 CE).

His first prose work, published while he was imprisoned in 1956, was the novel "The Long Road," which won the Ministry of Education Award in 1957 and was subsequently adopted for the second year of secondary school in 1959. His other works include "The Promised Day" (1960), which won the Supreme Council for Arts and Letters Award in Egypt that same year; "In the Darkness," which won the same award the following year, 1961; "The Killer of Hamza"; "The Light of God"; "Night and Bars"; "Men and Wolves"; "The Story of Jadallah"; "Processions of the Free"; "Omar Appears in Jerusalem"; "Nights of Turkestan"; "Giants of the North"; and "The Princess of the Mountain."

The late writer Najib al-Kilani succeeded in presenting a vision of the desired Islamic literature, demonstrating its close connection to real life and its ability to stand tall in the face of other literary traditions. He also offered scholarly rebuttals to trivial works, all through a serious life rich in literary contributions, as noted by the scholar Abu al-Hasan al-Nadwi.

He is known as the only writer who took his novel beyond the borders of his country, traveling with it to many other countries and engaging with their diverse environments. He was with the Nigerian revolutionaries in "Giants of the North," in Ethiopia in "The Black Shadow," in Damascus in "Blood for the Matzah of Zion" and "On the Walls of Damascus," in Palestine in "Omar Appears in Jerusalem," in Indonesia in "The Virgin of Jakarta," and in Turkestan in "Nights of Turkestan," in which he predicted the fall of communism more than thirty years ago. A writer, generally speaking, who does not possess this ability foresight and prediction alongside artistic vision, will find little value in much of his work.

Al-Kilani—may God have mercy on him—was able to employ many narrative techniques in his poetry. He used symbolism, persona, dialogue, narration, rapid-fire expression, flashbacks, irony, and snapshots through unique expressive forms and themes, as Dr. [Name] observes. Jaber Qumaiha published his first collection of poems, "Towards Al-Ula," in 1950 while he was a high school student. His last collection, "Pearl of the Gulf," was unfinished. Other collections include "How Can I Meet You," "The Age of Martyrs," "Songs of Strangers," "City of Major Sins," "Migrant," and "Songs of the Long Night." He published his first poetry collection, "Towards Al-Ula," while in his fourth year of high school, and continued to publish thereafter.