Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri
1279–1333 · Qus & Cairo
Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Wahhab al-Nuwayri was born on 5 April 1279; TDV places his birth at Qus in Upper Egypt, English Wikipedia at Akhmim, and his name comes from the village of al-Nuwayra. He studied in Cairo with teachers such as Ibn Daqiq al-Id, Abd al-Mu'min al-Dimyati and Badr al-Din ibn Jama'a, and he also trained his hand. As a student he lived by copying books: TDV reports that he copied al-Bukhari's Sahih eight times and sold each copy for a thousand dirhams, while the Wikipedias say dinars. He then served the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad in financial posts, was sent to Tripoli as head of the chancery, and copied the endowment deeds of the Nasiriyya madrasa. From about 1321 he compiled Nihayat al-arab, a thirty-one-volume encyclopedia that is his lasting monument. He died in Cairo on 5 June 1333. He is remembered more as a historian than as a calligrapher, but his copying was his first trade.
Achievements
- Practised fine writing (TDV) and, as a student, lived by copying books.
- Copied al-Bukhari's Sahih eight times and sold each copy for 1,000 dirhams (TDV; Arabic and English Wikipedia say 1,000 dinars).
- Was charged with making copies of the endowment deeds of the Nasiriyya madrasa in Cairo.
- Compiled Nihayat al-arab fi funun al-adab, a 31-volume encyclopedia written between 1321 and 1333.
Taught by: Ibn Daqiq al-Id, Abd al-Mu'min al-Dimyati, Badr al-Din ibn Jama'a
His work
No copy in his own hand was found on Commons: the Paris volume of his encyclopedia there is dated 1336-37, after his death, so it is not his.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Open Mashq Studio →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi).
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi: birth at Qus, teachers, fine writing, Bukhari copied eight times, career, death islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
- English Wikipedia: Akhmim birth, Bukhari copy for 1000 dinars, encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: copying books, dates ar.wikipedia.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).