Professor Ashraf Rafi was born in Hyderabad on August 4, 1940. She was a professor at the Usmania University. She is a researcher, a critic and a poet and has also written for children. She has eleven books to her credit , including three collections of poetry. In addition, a number of her research and critic articles have been published in literary journals. She has received awards from Andhra Pradesh and Delhi Urdu Academies.