Ahmed Amin Ibrahim al-Tabakh was born in the Manshiyya district of Cairo on October 1, 1886. His education progressed from a traditional Quranic school (kuttab) to the Abbas Pasha I Primary School, then to Al-Azhar University, and finally to the School of Sharia Law, from which he received his law degree in 1911. He then taught for two years at the School of Sharia Law. In 1913, he joined the judiciary, serving as a judge for three months before returning to teach at the School of Sharia Law. In 1926, his friend Taha Hussein offered him a teaching position at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. He worked there as a lecturer, then as an assistant professor, until he became its dean in 1939.

In 1914, he and some colleagues established the Committee for Authorship, Translation, and Publication, and he remained its chairman until his death in 1954. He participated in the publication of Al-Risala magazine (1936). He also founded the weekly literary magazine Al-Thaqafa (1939). In 1946, after assuming the position of Director of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Education, he established what became known as the “People’s University,” aiming to disseminate culture among the people through lectures and seminars. During the same period, he founded the “Institute of Arabic Manuscripts,” affiliated with the League of Arab States. He was awarded his doctorate in 1948 and was a member of the Arabic Language Academies in Damascus, Cairo, and Baghdad.