Nazir Ahmad was born in 1831 to a family of scholars in Rehar, Bijnor District, U.P., India.

He then studied Arabic grammar for five years under the guidance of Deputy Collector Bajnor, Nasrallah Saheb.

[2] To further Ahmad's Arabic skills, in 1842 his father took him to Delhi to study under the guidance of Abd ul-Khaliq at the Aurangabadi Mosque.

However, he enrolled in the Urdu section of the college, as his father had said to him, “he would rather see him (Ahmad) die than learn English”.

[4] During his time at the mosque at Delhi, Ahmad also discreetly arranged his own marriage to Maulvi Abd ul-Khaliq's granddaughter.

Ahmad had to carry in his lap a little girl, who became his wife as he grew up, as his teacher was fond of his hard-working habits and good character.

After serving two years in Kunjah, he was appointed as deputy inspector of schools in Cawnpore, but his work there was affected by the mutiny of 1857.

He laid special emphasis on the education of girls as well as on training them in handling domestic affairs.

It was the chance discovery of these stories by Mathew Kempson, the British Director of Public Instruction, on his visit to Jhansi where Ahmad was serving, that led to book being published.

At a Darbar held in Agra in 1869, Sir Williams[clarification needed] publicly praised the book.

[16] Towards the later part of his stay in the city, Ahmad ceased to write fiction and got more involved in Sir Syed's political activities.

The Anjuman-i-Himayat Islam, Lahore invited him for their annual anniversary meetings and his lecture of sideline of the gathering attracted throngs of crowds.

With his commendable sense of humor and eloquent recitation of verses, he could hold his audience ‘spell bound for two to three hours in a stretch’.