Mariyam Saeed was born on 27 March 1933,[1] to the chief justice of the Maldives and poet Husain Salahuddin and his wife Medhu Gan'duvaru Thuhthu Gomaa.

[4] Over the years, she composed an extensive body of work, with the exact number of poems unknown even to her.

[4] Her works covered a wide range of themes, including national and historical topics, moral and religious reflections, as well as explorations of various emotions.

"[4] In 1983, then-president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom presented her National Award of Honour in the area of Maldivian poetry.

[6][7][8] She was buried alongside her father Husain Salahuddin and brother Ibrahim Shihab, at the Kuppiyawatte Muslim Burial Ground in Sri Lanka.