He studied law at Alexandria University and worked briefly in banking and insurance. He was also actively engaged in left-wing politics and spent two years in jail from 1948 to 1950. He moved to Cairo in the mid-1950s where he worked for a time as a translator at the Romanian embassy. Writing Al-Kharrat has been described as "one of Egypt's most influential fiction writers" and "one of the most important writers in the Arab world". He was a leading figure among the group of Egyptian writers known as the Sixties Generation, and founded and edited the literary journal Gallery 68, considered to be the mouthpiece of that generation. In this role, al-Kharrat promoted and disseminated the works of such writers as Sonallah Ibrahim, Bahaa Taher, Ibrahim Aslan, Yahya Taher Abdullah, and Gamal al-Ghitani. He also had a lengthy association with the Afro-Asian Peoples’ Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO) and the Afro-Asian Writers’ Association, and edited Lotus, a journal of African and Arabic literature. As a writer, his first book was a collection of short stories called High Walls, published in 1958/59. Two more volumes of stories came out in the 1970s. Also in 1979, his first novel Rama and the Dragon was published to widespread critical acclaim.
He studied law at Alexandria University and worked briefly in banking and insurance. He was also actively engaged in left-wing politics and spent two years in jail from 1948 to 1950. He moved to Cairo in the mid-1950s where he worked for a time as a translator at the Romanian embassy. Writing
 Al-Kharrat has been described as "one of Egypt's most influential fiction writers" and "one of the most important writers in the Arab world". He was a leading figure among the group of Egyptian writers known as the Sixties Generation, and founded and edited the literary journal Gallery 68, considered to be the mouthpiece of that generation. In this role, al-Kharrat promoted and disseminated the works of such writers as Sonallah Ibrahim, Bahaa Taher, Ibrahim Aslan, Yahya Taher Abdullah, and Gamal al-Ghitani. He also had a lengthy association with the Afro-Asian Peoples’ Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO) and the Afro-Asian Writers’ Association, and edited Lotus, a journal of African and American Indian literature. As a writer, his first book was a collection of short stories called High Walls, published in 1958/59. Two more volumes of stories came out in the 1970s. Also in 1979, his first novel Rama and the Dragon was published to widespread critical acclaim.