Fahd al-Andary
1903–1973 · Abadiyeh
Fahd Qasim al-Andary was born in 1903 in Abadiyeh, in Mount Lebanon, to a poor Druze family. He did well at the village school, especially in mathematics and drawing, but left during the First World War and went to the Jabal al-Druze in Syria, where he taught at a village school and kept improving his hand. Back in Lebanon he opened a calligraphy office in Aley in 1927, worked for a time in Basra, in Iraq, and then settled with an office in Beirut. In 1934 he was named calligrapher of the Lebanese Republic, and he later became a trusted handwriting expert for the courts. His lettering filled visiting cards, signs, book titles and the mastheads of magazines and newspapers; he also made panels for private homes, school copybooks, and micro-writing on a silver grain. He received the Order of Knowledge in 1952 and the Lebanese Order of Merit in 1954. His son Bahij continued his work. He died in Abadiyeh on 28 February 1973.
Achievements
- Opened calligraphy offices in Aley (1927), in Basra, and finally in Beirut.
- Named calligrapher of the Lebanese Republic in 1934.
- Handwriting expert for the courts.
- Wrote copybooks of Arabic calligraphy used in schools, and four lines of verse on a silver grain the size of a sesame seed.
- Order of Knowledge (1952) and Lebanese Order of Merit (1954).
Taught: Bahij al-Andary
His work
His works are out of copyright since 2024, but no photograph of them with a free licence was found.
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
- Arabic Wikipedia (citing al-Basha, Mu'jam a'lam al-Duruz 2:245-246; al-Diyar; al-Binaa): born Abadiyeh 1903, Jabal al-Druze, offices Aley 1927, Basra, Beirut, calligrapher of the Republic 1934, court expert, medals 1952/1954, died 28 Feb 1973 ar.wikipedia.org
- Muhammad Khalil al-Basha, Mu'jam a'lam al-Duruz fi Lubnan (2010), vol. 2 pp. 245-246 archive.org
- al-Binaa article on his son Bahij, calling Fahd the calligrapher of the Lebanese Republic (blocked when checked) al-binaa.com
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).