Hashem al-Baghdadiهاشم البغدادي

Iraq's iron hand and modern calligraphy's sternest teacher. Certified in Cairo, he brought Ottoman rigour back to the city of Ibn Muqla and refused every shortcut the twentieth century offered. His 1961 copybook 'Rules of Arabic Calligraphy' remains the region's standard training text — generations from Morocco to Malaysia learned their first correct alif from its pages. He wrote for mosques across Iraq and corrected the Qur'an edition of the Iraqi state press.

Key work: Qawa'id al-Khatt al-'Arabi (1961) — the modern copybook.

Images of his works are under copyright review — shown when cleared.