Accessing Muslim Lives

Part I:

Today I give the descriptions of Shimla for the benefit of our sisters, who intend to come over here. We are for ten days. We took the train on Tuesday, 22 September in Bhopal. at 8’am in the morning and arrived in Kalka at 5 am the following day where the train for Shimla was ready to depart. We took that train and on our way were with several British ‘mems’ and while we were still busy in conversation, our journey ended.…

In the same way that a broken film projector fails to display the full image on the screen, these blind impressions of the beginning [of my life] hardly remain on the forgotten shelf of my memory. How strange it is! The first thing [of my childhood] that I remember is a corner of our house where my father’s pencil-sharpener was kept.…

City life in Damascus

Two-horse carriages can be had very cheaply here, and can also be found at any time. Phaeton carriages and other vehicles are also widely available. In our India, the common people use simple yakkas and tongas, while here fine carriages are the norm. We finally arrived at the doors of the [Umayyid] Mosque, taking in all the sights along the way.…

We left for India on 6 January by Viceroy of India.  We were commanded to arrive at ship one day prior to departure, so that the ship can leave whenever appropriate. Due to war, there were lots of problems in getting out of England. We had to sign on thousands of forms. We had to return identity card, elision card and gas masks.…

In the last weeks, my husband had to visit Holland for government related work. I also accompanied him. Holland is a small country in Northern Europe, and for the last two centuries it hasn’t played a prominent role in European politics. Even though the struggle for freedom against Spain in the sixteenth century had great significance then, by the end of the eighteenth century Napoleon’s conquering army had reached the frontier of every European country.…

Travelling from Lake Geneva to Zurich

We left Territet on the 1 p.m. train. We had to change trains in Lausanne. Lausanne is a very beautiful city. This is the city where the peace conference of the Turko-Greek war was held. Bern, which is the capital of Switzerland, is also a very nice city. We reached Zurich at eight in the evening.…

January 1, 1935

Thanks be to God on high, by whose mercy the year 1934 today came to a happy close, and the year 1935 began. I offer my ardent prayers for an excellent year ahead. May God accept them. Amen.

The New Year festivities began sometime around twelve o’clock, because of which there was a clamor out on the streets that could be heard inside the house.…

In Medina
Now it was time for us to travel to the holy city of Medina. My heart was bursting with happiness. When the dawn of that blessed day arrived, we went down the stairs of the chambers we were staying in and waited for the car to arrive. First, we went from Mecca Mu’azzama to Jeddah Sharif.  We stored our things there.…

A tourist ticket from Bombay to London on the Chusan cost Rs. 1055. The weight of this ship on the P&O line was 24,000 tonnes. Its color was white and it seemed new and extremely grand and up to date. Our cabin was on the last deck, Deck E, and was very comfortable.

Through the porthole, we could see the ocean waves.…

The original essay appeared in two instalments in Tehzib-e Niswan (Lahore) (23 and 30 March 1899).  It was then published with a biographical introduction by the journal’s editor, Muhammadi Begum, in a book entitled Hayat-e Ashraf (Lahore: Imambara Sayyida Mubarak Begum, n.d.).  The essay has been translated from this source with a biographical introduction to the author in C.M. Naim, ‘How Bibi Ashraf Learned to Read and Write’, Annual of Urdu Studies, vol.…