Abd al-Hadi Zayn al-Abidin
1888–1965 · Homs
Abd al-Hadi ibn Ahmad ibn Raslan Zayn al-Abidin was born in Homs in 1888, according to Adham al-Jundi's biographical dictionary; Arabic Wikipedia also mentions 1895. His family claimed descent from Zayn al-Abidin, and his grandfather was a poet known as "al-Adib". At the local schools he was already teaching classmates the rules of writing. He learned the Arabic, Kufic, Ottoman and Persian hands largely on his own, and taught himself to write French and English as well. In 1939 he spent several months in Istanbul with his uncle, met the leading calligraphers there and learned from them, then returned to Homs. He made his living as a free calligrapher, and also treated people with herbal medicine. He wrote poetry, collected in a diwan that remains in manuscript. He died in Homs in 1965.
Achievements
- Taught himself the rules of the Arabic, Kufic, Ottoman and Persian (ta'liq) hands, and produced calligraphic panels prized by collectors.
- Spent some months in Istanbul in 1939, meeting and learning from leading calligraphers.
- Worked as a free calligrapher in Homs and is counted among the leading calligraphers of Syria in his day.
- Left a manuscript diwan of poetry; listed in the Babtain dictionary of Arab poets.
His work
No photograph of his work with a free licence was found on Wikimedia Commons or in open museum collections.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Write in this tradition now →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi) — or every Kufic piece the store makes: Kufic collection.
Sources
- Adham al-Jundi, Tuhfat al-zaman (Dar al-Muqtabas 2015, vol. 3 pp. 337-339): born Homs 1888, self-taught in Arabic, Kufic, Turkish and Persian hands, Istanbul 1939, poetry almoqtabas.com
- Arabic Wikipedia: 1888 or 1895, Istanbul 1939, free calligraphy work, herbal medicine, died Homs 1965 ar.wikipedia.org
- Babtain dictionary of Arab poets (cited by Arabic Wikipedia; not reachable when checked) almoajam.org
Written by the MASHQ studio · last updated 2026-10-05. Further reading, the standard references in English: Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006) · Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Culture (New York University Press, 1984) · Yasin Hamid Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Thames and Hudson, 1978).