[1] She was a successful business financier and philanthropist, but is most known for her diplomatic service as the mediator between Murad Bey and the French occupation forces of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798–1801.
[3] Nafisa al-Bayda was bought to the harem of the Mamluk leader Ali Bey al-Kabir in Cairo.
As a widow, Nafisa al-Bayda remarried the Mamluk leader Murad Bey.
[10] In accordance with Islamic law, Nafisa al-Bayda was permitted to control her own money despite being a married woman.
Her most known charitable project was the foundation of a building that combines a water dispensary with a school for orphans, the Sabil-Kuttub Nafisa al-Bayda, which was founded near Bab Zuwayla in Cairo in 1796.