Rafiqunnabi was born in1943 in Nawabganj District in North-western Bangladesh.
Ranabi is a notable artist and cartoonist from Bangladesh. His full name is Rafiqunnabi. In all of his works, he usually signs as Ranabi, Ra is the initial for Rafiqun in Bangla. Ranabi's most famous creation is Tokai, a character symbolizing the poor street boys of Dhaka who lives on picking things from dustbins or begging and having a knack of telling simple yet painful truths about current political and socio-economic situation of the country straight away

He graduated from Pogose School, Dhaka, and joined the Art College (later renamed as Institute of Fine Arts under Dhaka University). There, he studied under the supervision of artists like Zainul Abedin and Quamrul Hassan. Nabi received a scholarship from the Asia Foundation between 1962-64. After his graduation, he joined the institute as a teacher. He went to Athens and studied art between 1973-1976 under a scholarship from the Government of Greece.