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 quite see how this works, but
'ask' could be 'beg' (begging is a kind of asking) and 'beg' is located 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 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" .)