Safiya Begum was born on 27 March 1920, in Maleehabad. She is related to Josh Maleehabadi, who was her maternal uncle. This relation may stand as a justification of her claims that poetry is in her genes. She passed most of her life in Lucknow. She had been a student of Muslim Girls College for some time and sought literary guidance from Aazad Ansari. Safiya Shameem writes nazms, ghazals and rubaii. Her pen name is Safiya and is popularly known as Safiya Shameem. Her works have been published in the reputed journals of Pakistan, where she moved with her husband after partition. She lives in Rawalpindi now. Girya-E-Tabassum, Aahang-E-Shamiim and Nawaa-E-Hijaaz are the collections of her poetry.