 She was born in Alexandria, Egypt, into a family of Hejazi and Turkish origin.Her mother was Wijdan Hanim, the daughter of Shakir Pasha, who was the grandnephew of the Ottoman-Turkish Cypriot Governor of Cyprus Kâmil Pasha.Her father, Sharif Jamal bin Nasser, was the Governor of Hauran; he was the nephew of Sharif Hussein bin Ali of Mecca.