Abdallah al-Tayyib

El Tayib occupied leading academic and administrative positions at universities in Khartoum, Juba and Kano, Nigeria. He was also president of the Arab Language League of Sudan and a member of the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo, Egypt. His scholarly work was dedicated to the history and development of Arabic poetry from pre-Islamic to modern times, as well as to editions of folk tales of Sudan.

El Tayib was elected first as Dean of the Faculty of Arts (1961–1974) and then as President (1974–1975) of the University of Khartoum. Following this, he was the first director of the University of Juba (1975–1976) and the founder and provost of Abdullahi Bayero College (1964-1966) which later became Bayero University Kano in Nigeria. El Tayib's primary field of research was the Arabic language, and he has been considered among the most important scholars of Arabic literature and language in the 20th century. One of his most notable works is A Guide to Understanding Arabic Poetry, a massive opus written over thirty five years, for which he was awarded the King Faisal Prize for Arabic Language and Literature in 2000. In their tribute to his work, the judges of this prize wrote: "The first three volumes are regarded as the most thorough analysis known of the composition, rhythm, unity and other features of Arabic poetry since pre-Islamic eras. The fourth volume – a landmark text of over 1,500 pages – includes exhaustive details of the role of both ancient and modern Arab literary critics, the development of the Arabic poem through the centuries and its impact on European poets from Dante to Andrew Marvel, Blake and the Romantic poets." Apart from scholarly work, El Tayib was also known as poet, playwright and author of essays on African culture. His collections of Sudanese folk tales Heroes of Arabia, Folk Tales from the Northern Sudan and his Stories from the Sands of Africa were translated into English and illustrated by his wife, Griselda El Tayib, a British-Sudanese art historian and artist. He is also remembered for his numerous radio broadcasts, interpreting the language and messages of the Qur’an over a span of 35 years. In recognition of his achievements, the University of Khartoum established the 'Professor Abdallah El Tayeb Institute for the Arabic Language' in 1992.