Kamel al-Baba
1905–1991 · Sidon
Kamel Salim al-Baba was born in Sidon, Lebanon, in 1905 (1323 AH). He learned calligraphy in Beirut, first from his father, Shaykh Salim al-Baba, who taught calligraphy and Arabic literature at the Ottoman Sultaniye school and at the teachers' college, and then from Najib Hawawini, the Lebanese master who served as calligrapher to the King of Egypt. Al-Baba made teaching his work, and a number of Lebanese calligraphers learned the art from him. His book Ruh al-khatt al-'Arabi (The Spirit of Arabic Calligraphy), published in Beirut by Dar Lubnan and Dar al-'Ilm lil-Malayin, sets out the history and rules of the scripts and is still cited. The younger Lebanese calligrapher Yasser Badreddine, in a text for the Canadian Museum of Civilization, named him among the masters he knew and said al-Baba once trusted him to retouch one of his works. Wikidata and Arabic Wikipedia give 1991 as the year of his death; Arabic Wikipedia pairs it with 1415 AH, which does not match, so the Hijri year is left open here.
Achievements
- Studied calligraphy in Beirut with his father, who taught calligraphy and Arabic literature at the Sultaniye school and the teachers' college, and then with Najib Hawawini, calligrapher to the King of Egypt.
- Taught calligraphy for many years and trained a number of Lebanese calligraphers.
- Wrote Ruh al-khatt al-'Arabi (The Spirit of Arabic Calligraphy), published in Beirut by Dar Lubnan and Dar al-'Ilm lil-Malayin (1403 AH).
Taught by: Salim al-Baba, Najib Hawawini
His work
His calligraphy is still under copyright (he died after 1975), so no works are shown.
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: birth, teachers, teaching, book, death year ar.wikipedia.org
- Wikidata: 1905-1991 wikidata.org
- Canadian Museum of Civilization, The Lands within Me: Badreddine names Mr. Al-Baba among masters he knew web.archive.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).