When the German Nobel Laureate Günter Grass visited Yemen for a cultural conference in December 2002, he asked Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to protect the author, and al-Ahdal was then allowed to return to Yemen. 

He has published several collections of short stories, including Zahrat al-Abir (The Passerby’s Flower, Sanaa, 1997); Surat al-Battal (Portrait of an Unemployed Man, Amman, 1998); Ratanat al-Zaman al-Miqmaq (Gibberish in a Time of Ventriloquism, Sanaa, 1998); and Harb lam Ya‘alam bi-Wuqu‘iha Ahad (A War No One Knew About, Sanaa, 2001). In addition to Qawarib Jabaliya, his novels include Himar Bayna al-Aghani (A Donkey in the Choir, Beirut, 2004); Faylasuf al-Kurantina (Quarantine Philosopher, Sanaa, 2007), which was nominated for the 2008 International Prize for Arab Novels, popularly known as the Arab Booker; and Bilad bila Sama’ (A Land Without Sama’[or a Sky], Sanaa, 2008), which has been published in English translation as A Land Without Jasmine, co-winner of the 2013 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Translation. He has also written a screenplay and a play, and his short stories have been published in anthologies and journals.