Being eminent, would she ask charity for some of the humble? (5)
I believe the answer is:
begum
'being' is the definition.
(begum is a kind of being)
'eminent would she ask charity for some of the humble?' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'ask' could be 'beg' (begging is a kind of asking) and 'beg' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'um' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for begum that I've seen before include "Muslim princess" , "Moslem princess" , "Muslim lady" , "She's high-ranking" , "Muslim woman of high rank in India" .)