Zeb-un-Nissa Makhfi (Note: drawn based on personal taste and unreferenced picture)

Zēb-un-Nisā Makhfī (Persian: زیب النساء مخفی) (also written Zebunnisa, Zebunnissa, Zebunisa, Zeb-un-Nisa, Zeb-ul-Nissa) (Zeb means beauty or ornament in Persian and Nissa means women in Arabic, Zebunnisa means most beautiful of all women) (1637 - 1702) was the eldest daughter of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Year 1702 ( MDCCII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Mughal Empire ( Persian and self-designation گورکانی; مغلیہ سلطنت) was an Islamic imperial power which ruled most Aurangzeb ( (full title Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abul Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I Padshah Ghazi) ( November 4, Princess Zeb-un-Nissa is fondly remembered as a Sufi and a poet. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف

Detailed biography

Zeb-un-Nissa, daughter of Mughal emperor “Aurangzeb” (known as Alamgeer), was born during the reign of Shah Jahan. Aurangzeb ( (full title Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abul Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I Padshah Ghazi) ( November 4, Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I (full title Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abu'l-Muzaffar Shihab ud-din Muhammad Sahib-i-Qiran-i-Sani Shah Jahan I Padshah Ghazi Her mother was Delras Banoo, daughter of Shahnawaz Safavid. The Safavids ( صفوی) were an Iranian ref>Helen Chapin Metz

Her father Aurangzeb charged Mariam, one of the women of court, with the education of Zeb-un-Nissa. Aurangzeb ( (full title Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abul Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I Padshah Ghazi) ( November 4, Through her efforts, Zeb-un-Nissa memorized the Quran in three years. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran Then she learned the sciences of the time with Mohammad Saeed Ashraf Mazandarani. Zeb-un-Nissa learned Philosophy, Astronomy and Literature, and knew Persian, Arabic and Urdu. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Urdu ( ur '''{{Nastaliq اردو}}''' trans Urdū, historically spelled Ordu) is a Central Indo-Aryan language Urdu is a standardised She had a good reputation in calligraphy as well. Calligraphy (from Greek kallos "beauty" + graphẽ "writing" is the art of writing (Mediavilla 1996 17

Zeb-un-Nissa started to narrate poems in Persian from the age of 14, but as her father did not like poetry, she used to write secretly. Ustad Bayaz, one of her teachers, found her poems and then encouraged her to continue narrating poems. It is reported that in the court of Aurangzeb, there used to be hidden literary and poetic parties among the great poets like Ghani Kashmiri, Naimatullah Khan and Aqil Khan Razi, and Zeb-un-Nissa participated secretly in these parties. Aurangzeb ( (full title Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abul Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I Padshah Ghazi) ( November 4,

When Aurangzeb became the emperor after Shah Jahan, Zeb-un-Nissa was 21-years old. Aurangzeb ( (full title Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abul Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I Padshah Ghazi) ( November 4, Shihab-ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I (full title Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abu'l-Muzaffar Shihab ud-din Muhammad Sahib-i-Qiran-i-Sani Shah Jahan I Padshah Ghazi Aurangzeb found out the talent and capacity of her daughter and discussed the political affairs of his Empire with her, and listened to her opinions. Aurangzeb ( (full title Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abul Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I Padshah Ghazi) ( November 4, It has been mentioned in some books that Aurangzeb sent all the royal princes for the reception of Zeb-un-Nissa each time she entered the court. Aurangzeb ( (full title Al-Sultan al-Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram Abul Muzaffar Muhiuddin Muhammad Aurangzeb Bahadur Alamgir I Padshah Ghazi) ( November 4, Zeb-un-Nissa had four other sisters: Zeenat-un-Nissa, Badr-un-Nissa, Mehr-un-Nissa and Zebdat-un-Nissa. Among them, Zeenat-un-Nissa and Zebdat-un-Nissa wrote poems too.

Zeb-un-Nissa did not get married and remained single until her death, despite the fact she had many suitors. She spent all her life on literary works and poetry, as she herself says:

Oh Makhfi, it is the path of love and alone you must go - No one suits your friendship even if Jesus be though

In some books it has been written that there were secret love relation between Zeb-un-Nissa and Aqil Khan Razi, a poet and the governor of Lahore, but it is far from the truth. ( lahor is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and is the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. There are many stories reported about Zeb-un-Nissa and Aqil Khan Razi, but they seem to be far from the truth. Even in her poetic book (Diwan), we cannot find a single Ghazal which supports this point. In Poetry, the ghazal ( Arabic / Persian / Urdu: غزل; Hindi: ग़ज़ल Turkish gazel) is a In fact, all her poems are based on the Sufism concept of Love of God. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفی‌گری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف

Zeb-un-Nissa lived in a period when many great poets were at the peak of their reputation; e. g. Mawlana Abdul Qader Bedil, Kalim Kashani, Saa’eb Tabrizi and Ghani Kashmiri. Abul Ma'āni Mirzā Abdul-Qāder Bedil or Mawlānā Abul Ma'āni Abdul Qader Bedil also Bidel Dehlavi (1642&ndash1720 (مولانا ابوالمعانی عبدالقادر We notice the influence of Hafez Sherazi’s style on the poetry of Zeb-un-Nissa. Khwāja Šamsu d-Dīn Muḥammad Hāfez-e Šīrāzī, or simply Hāfez ( was a Persian mystic and Poet. However, she is considered as one of the poets of Indian School of Poetry in Persian.

Zeb-un-Nissa selected “Makhfi” (which means Hidden one in Persian) as her pen-name in her poetry. In addition to her poetic book or collection of poems, called Diwan, which contains approximately 5,000 verses, she has also written the following books: “Monis-ul-Roh”, “Zeb-ul Monsha’at” and “Zeb-ul-Tafasir”. In Maghzan-ul Ghara’eb, the author writes that the poetic book of Zeb-un-Nissa contained 15,000 verses. Her poetic book was printed in Delhi in 1929 and in Tehran in 2001. Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population Tehran (or Teheran) ( Persian: تهران Tehrān) is the capital and largest City of Iran, and the administrative center of Its manuscripts are in National Library of Paris, Library of the British Museum, Library of Tübingen University in Germany and in the Mota Library in India. The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country

Zeb-un-Nissa died in 1701 in Shahjahanabad (old Delhi), while Aurangzeb was in trip to Deccan. Overview The modern city contains the remnants of eight successive ancient cities including 'Dhilli' was founded by Tomar Anangapala according to Vibudh Shridhar Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population Her tomb was in the garden of "Thirty thousand trees", outside of the Kabuli Gate. But when the railway line was laid out at Delhi, her tomb was shifted to Akbar's mausoleum at Sikandara, Agra. Delhi (दिल्ली ਦਿੱਲੀ دلی d̪ɪlːiː sometimes referred to as Dilli) is the second largest metropolis of India, with a population Akbar redirects here For other uses see Akbar (disambiguation Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar ( Jalāl ud-Dīn Muhammad Akbar Agra ( pronounced) (आगरा آگرا is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh,

Sample Translations

Her Ghazals is telling the story of love in a feminine way

It is the path of love and alone you must go (Zebunisa 1660)

You with the dark burly hair and the breathtaking eyes,

your inquiring glance that leaves me undone. In Poetry, the ghazal ( Arabic / Persian / Urdu: غزل; Hindi: ग़ज़ल Turkish gazel) is a

Eyes that pierce and then withdraw like a blood-stained sword,

eyes with dagger lashes!

Zealots, you are mistaken - this is heaven.

Never mind those making promises of the afterlife:

join us now, righteous friends, in this intoxication.

Never mind the path to the Kaabah: sanctity resides in the heart.

Squander your life, suffer! God is right here.

Oh excruciating face! Continual light!

This is where I am thrilled, here, right here.

There is no book anywhere on the matter.

Only as soon as I see you do I understand.

If you wish to offer your beauty to God, give Zibunisa

a taste. Awaiting the tiniest morsel, she is right here. ^[1]

References

External links

• "The first fifty Ghazals of Diwan-e Makhfi" printed in London, 1913
• "The Tears of Zebunnissa" printed in London, 1913
• "Palace of Zeb-un-Nissa"