Heritage
A house, in its own words
Asghar Adam Ali, also identified as Al Attar, is reported to have been born in Aden, Yemen, into a family already associated with perfume. According to profiles published by Parfums von Asghar Adam Ali and The Art of the Chase, he opened his first shop, Nabeel Perfumes, in Aden in 1969 at only sixteen years old. Those accounts place the business at the beginning of his independent career and describe Nabeel as a modest perfume shop in the city. Later accounts state that political unrest in Yemen prompted him to move to the United Arab Emirates, where the business developed into a Dubai-based fragrance house. The move marked a major turning point, carrying a name rooted in Aden into a new commercial and cultural setting. Asghar Adam Ali’s work is also associated with The Spirit of Dubai, a range that presents the founder’s personal response to Dubai. Public profiles additionally place him within the world of bakhoor through Shumukh Signature Bakhoors. Some references to a founding date of 1924 concern Asghar Ali, a separate name that should not be conflated with the documented 1969 founding of Nabeel by Asghar Adam Ali. Asghar Adam Ali’s perfumery is grounded in the regional materials and cultural references that shaped his early life. Having grown up around perfume in Aden and opened Nabeel in 1969, his work begins with an inherited relationship to scent rather than a formal distance from it. The brand’s oud-led compositions, including the documented emphasis of oud in The Spirit of Dubai, reflect the importance of oud in Arabian fragrance culture. In a first-person account about the range, the founder links Meydan with leather and describes oud as carrying the traditional scent of Arabia. This approach suggests that a fragrance is expected to evoke a place, texture, or atmosphere, not simply decorate a bottle. His later identity across fine fragrance and bakhoor also shows a broad view of scent culture, where regional materials can be approached through contemporary personal expression. The name Asghar Adam Ali remains closely tied to the founder’s story, while the 2025 releases Absolute, Avtar, Asiya, and Ashjan extend that history into the current catalog.