Muhammad Tahir al-Kurdi
1903–1980 · Mecca & Jeddah
Muhammad Tahir ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Kurdi was born in Mecca in 1321 AH (1903); his family came from Erbil. After the Falah school in Mecca he went to al-Azhar in 1922 and stayed seven years in Egypt, studying religion by day and calligraphy in the evenings at the new Royal School of Arabic Calligraphy, which gave him its diploma in 1925. His teachers there included Muhammad Ibrahim al-Afandi, Ali Badri and Abd al-Aziz al-Rifai. Back in the Hejaz he taught calligraphy in Jeddah and Mecca, wrote copybooks used in the schools, directed a school for calligraphy and typewriting, and served on the committee for the expansion of the Grand Mosque. He is best known for the Mecca Qur'an, copied over three years and first printed in 1949, the first Qur'an printed in Saudi Arabia, carried home by pilgrims for decades. He wrote more than forty books, among them a history of Arabic calligraphy (1939). Walid al-A'zami and Yusuf Dhannun studied with him. He died in Jeddah on 23 Rabi II 1400 (March 1980).
Achievements
- Diploma of the Royal School of Arabic Calligraphy in Cairo, 1925.
- Wrote the Mecca Qur'an (Mushaf Makkah), first printed in 1369 AH (1949-50), the first Qur'an printed in the Saudi kingdom.
- Wrote the history Tarikh al-khatt al-'Arabi wa-adabuh (Cairo, 1939) and school copybooks such as Kurrasat al-Haramayn.
- First director of the Mecca school for calligraphy and typewriting.
- Member of the executive committee for the expansion of the Grand Mosque (1375 AH); took part in the silver frame of the Black Stone.
- Micro-writing: Ayat al-Kursi on an egg and short suras on grains of wheat, presented to King Abd al-Aziz in 1936.
Taught by: Abd al-Aziz al-Rifai, Muhammad Ibrahim al-Afandi, Ali Badri, Muhammad Gharib al-Arabi, Muhammad Radwan
Taught: Walid al-A'zami, Yusuf Dhannun, Yahya Sallum Abbas, Muhammad Salih al-Mawsili
His work
He died in 1980, so his calligraphy is still under copyright (life + 50 years); 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 Naskh piece the store makes: Naskh collection.
Sources
- Arabic Wikipedia (citing al-Riyadh 2019, Umm al-Qura 1936, Mu'allimi, al-Maghribi): birth 1321/1903, Azhar 1922, diploma 1343/1925, teachers, posts, Mecca Qur'an, books, students ar.wikipedia.org
- Qiblat al-Dunya (makkawi.info): died Monday 23 Rabi II 1400 at Bakhsh hospital, Jeddah, buried al-Mu'alla; posts and dates makkawi.info
- Arabic Wikipedia, Mushaf Makkah: first edition 1369/1949 ar.wikipedia.org
- al-Riyadh newspaper, 13 Dec 2019, "copyist of the noble Qur'an" (cited by arwiki) alriyadh.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).