Mustafa Ghazlan Bey
1890–1938 · Minufiyya
Mustafa Ghazlan Bey was born in 1890 in the Minufiyya province of Egypt. His father died when he was small, and his mother sent him to the calligrapher Shaykh Mustafa al-Ghar, who taught him naskh and thuluth; he learned ruq'a from Mahmud Naji and diwani from Mahmud Shukri Pasha. He joined the royal diwan and rose to head of the signature office and private calligrapher to King Fuad I. He reworked diwani so that its Egyptian form is still called Ghazlani, and the Survey Department printed his diwani copybooks in two sizes. He wrote thuluth inscriptions on the walls of the throne halls of Abdin Palace in Cairo and Ras al-Tin Palace in Alexandria, designed King Fuad's diwani monogram, and in 1356 AH wrote the Kaaba covering sent from Egypt. He taught diwani at the Royal School for the Improvement of Scripts, where Muhammad Abd al-Qadir was his favourite pupil. He died in 1938, aged 48.
Achievements
- Refined diwani so that the Egyptian form is called 'Ghazlani' after him.
- His diwani copybooks, in a large and a small size, were printed by the Egyptian Survey Department.
- Wrote thuluth inscriptions on the walls of the throne halls of Abdin Palace (Cairo) and Ras al-Tin Palace (Alexandria).
- Designed the diwani monogram of King Fuad I, used as the royal cipher.
- Assigned the writing of the Kaaba covering (kiswa) sent from Egypt in 1356 AH.
- Head of the signature office and private calligrapher to King Fuad I; taught diwani at the Royal School for the Improvement of Scripts.
Taught by: Shaykh Mustafa al-Ghar, Mahmud Naji, Mahmud Shukri Pasha
Taught: Muhammad Abd al-Qadir Abd Allah
His work
No work of certain attribution is yet in an open collection we may publish.
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 Diwani piece the store makes: Diwani collection.
Sources
- Arabic Wikipedia: 1890-1938, Minufiyya, teachers, royal diwan, Ghazlani diwani, copybooks, Abdin/Ras al-Tin inscriptions, Fuad monogram, kiswa 1356 AH, teaching, student Muhammad Abd al-Qadir ar.wikipedia.org
- Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia (same content) arz.wikipedia.org
- Baianat: Ghazlan refined diwani until it was called the Ghazlani script baianat.com
- Wikidata item wikidata.org
- Commons portrait record citing Khalid Azab & Muhammad Hasan, Diwan al-khatt al-'Arabi fi Misr (Bibliotheca Alexandrina, 2010) - book not read commons.wikimedia.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).