Here’s the English translation:

---

*Mughal Princess Zeb-un-Nissa Begum*

"Princess Zeb-un-Nissa was the eldest daughter of Aurangzeb, and she was born in 1639. She came from a distinguished lineage, directly descended from Genghis Khan and Timur Lang. Her emperor-ancestors were famous not only for their valor and statesmanship, but also as patrons and promoters of art and learning, and moreover, they themselves possessed distinguished literary gifts.

At the age of seven she was a Hafiz — she had memorized the Quran; and her father held a grand ceremony to celebrate the occasion. We read that the entire army was feasted on the great plain of Delhi, thirty thousand gold mohurs were given to the poor, and public offices were closed for two days.

She was given a woman named Miya Bai as a teacher, and she learned Arabic in four years; then she studied mathematics and astronomy, in which she rapidly attained proficiency. She began to write a commentary on the Quran, but her father stopped her.

From her youth she wrote poetry, at first in Arabic; but when an Arab scholar saw her work he said: 'Whoever wrote this poetry is an Indian. The poems are clever and wise, but the idiom is Indian, although it is a wonder for a foreigner to know Arabic so well.' This increased her desire for perfection, and after that she wrote in Persian, her mother tongue.

She was given a scholar named Shah Rustam Ghazi as a teacher, who encouraged and guided her literary interests. At first she wrote secretly, but he found copies of her poems in her exercise-books. He predicted her future greatness, and persuaded her father to send out to find poets in India and Persia and Kashmir and invite them to come to Delhi, in order to create a suitable circle for the princess.