El-Enani was born in Beheira governorate in the Nile Delta in 1939.

He obtained his bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University in 1959.

He obtained a master of philosophy from London University and a PhD degree from the University of Reading in England in 1975.

El-Enani worked as an assistant professor of English and head of the Department of English at the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University.

He translated dozens of works into Arabic, including many of Shakespeare's works, The White Man’s Dilemma by John Boyd Orr and Paradise Lost part I and II by the 17th century English poet John Milton.

He also authored many creative works, including El-Barr El-Gharbi (The Western Bank) in 1964 and books in English such as On Translating Shakespeare.

El-Enani won many prizes for his works as a writer and translator, including the Rifeaa El-Tahtawi Prize in 2014 and the International Translation Award of King Abdullah.

He co-edited the monthly cultural publication Sutur (Lines) for 10 years.

He also served as the editor of Egyptian Threatre magazine since 1986.