Hayreddin Mar'aşi (Khayr al-Din al-Mar'ashi)
d. 1472 · Maraş & Amasya
Hayreddin Mar'aşi was a calligrapher of the reign of Mehmed II. According to the Amasya historian Hüseyin Hüsameddin, he went to Amasya as a young man to study and there learned the six scripts from Yahya al-Sufi of Edirne, the strongest calligrapher of the day, who gave him an ijaza. Müstakimzade calls him a pupil of Abdullah Sayrafi, but TDV points out that the dates make this impossible. He worked as chancery secretary to Prince Alaeddin, governor of Amasya, and after the prince's death spent his time teaching writing in the city. Amasya then held a circle of calligraphers who were looking for a new style in the six scripts, and his most famous pupil, Sheikh Hamdullah, went on to set the Ottoman manner that lasted for centuries. Sources record his signatures as Halil ibn Hasan and Hayreddin Halil Mar'aşi. He probably died late in 876 AH (1472). TDV (1998) knew no surviving work, but a Qur'an dated 1448 attributed to him has since appeared in the Keir Collection.
Achievements
- Received an ijaza in the six scripts from Yahya al-Sufi in Amasya.
- Served as chancery secretary to Prince Alaeddin, governor of Amasya.
- Taught Sheikh Hamdullah, who went on to found the Ottoman style of the six scripts.
- Was part of the Amasya circle of calligraphers under Mehmed II and Bayezid II's governorship that sought a new style for the six scripts.
- A Qur'an in naskh dated 1448 and attributed to him is in the Keir Collection, on loan to the Dallas Museum of Art.
Taught by: Yahya al-Sufi of Edirne
Taught: Sheikh Hamdullah, Muhyiddin Köseç, Seyyid İbrahim
His work
1448 · Keir Collection, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Only one work could be found: TDV says none of his writing was known in museums or libraries, and this Qur'an surfaced later.
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 Thuluth piece the store makes: Thuluth collection.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (Muhittin Serin): teacher, ijaza, post, students, death c. 876/1472, signatures islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
- Commons / Dallas Museum of Art: Qur'an of 1448 by Khayr al-Din al-Mar'ashi, Keir Collection K.1.2014.1391 commons.wikimedia.org
- Wikidata: died 1472 wikidata.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).