Jalil Rasouli
1947– · Hamadan
Mohammad Jalil Rasouli was born in Hamadan, Iran, on 26 September 1947 and began writing calligraphy there as a schoolboy. In 1956 his family moved to Tehran, where he finished his schooling. In 1968 he met the master Sayyed Hasan Mirkhani and studied with him until 1972; Mirkhani later, in 1988, gave him the rank of master. Rasouli works in nastaliq and shikasta and is counted among the pioneers of modern calligraphy painting in Iran, in which letters and words are composed as paintings. Qur'anic verses are among his most frequent subjects. He has copied the story of Forud from Ferdowsi's Shahnameh and the Nahj al-balagha, and published albums of his work. He wrote the title lettering for Majid Majidi's film about the Prophet, and the verse of Ferdowsi printed on the back of Iran's 5,000-toman note. His work has been shown widely inside and outside Iran. In 2003 he was named a Lasting Figure of Iranian calligraphy, and a tribute was held for him in 2014.
Achievements
- Studied with Hasan Mirkhani from 1968 to 1972; Mirkhani gave him the rank of master in 1988.
- A pioneer of modern Persian calligraphy painting (naqqashi-khatt).
- Wrote the title lettering of Majid Majidi's film Muhammad: The Messenger of God, and the Ferdowsi verse on the back of Iran's 5,000-toman banknote.
- Named a Lasting Figure (Chehreh-ye Mandegar) of calligraphy in 2003 and holds Iran's first-class art certificate.
Taught by: Hasan Mirkhani
His work
He is living, so his calligraphy is protected by copyright and no works are shown.
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 Nastaliq piece the store makes: Nastaliq collection.
Sources
- Persian Wikipedia: birth 4 Mehr 1326, Mirkhani 1347-1351, film title, banknote, Chehreh-ye Mandegar 1382 fa.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: Mirkhani 1968-1972, title of master 1988, nastaliq and shikasta ar.wikipedia.org
- English Wikipedia: born 1947 in Hamadan, modernist Persian calligraphy en.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).