Muhammad Zarzur
1911–1982 · Damascus
Muhammad Zarzur was born in the upper Midan quarter of Damascus on 9 October 1911, into a family of Upper Egyptian origin; his father ran a Qur'an school. He studied religion with Ali al-Daqr and Hasan Habannaka, and after his father died, around 1930, took over the school to support the family. He first learned some rules of writing from Mamduh al-Sharif and then stayed with Badawi al-Dirani until his master's death in 1967, excelling in ta'liq (farsi) and thuluth; he consulted al-Dirani on large thuluth compositions. From 1939 he wrote the civil registers of Damascus, then for many years the school certificates of the Ministry of Education, while teaching calligraphy at several schools and leading prayers at a small mosque. His panels hang in many Damascus mosques, including the mihrab of the Zayd ibn Thabit mosque (1969), and he wrote Surat al-Kahf in marble in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. He died in Damascus on 11 February 1982.
Achievements
- Wrote the whole Surat al-Kahf carved in marble along a wall of the Prophet's Mosque expansion in Medina.
- Mihrab panels of the Zayd ibn Thabit mosque in Damascus, 1969.
- Panels in many Damascus mosques, among them Mazi, Husayn Khattab, al-Daqqaq and al-Qusur.
- For many years wrote the school certificates of the Syrian Ministry of Education; earlier wrote the civil registers of Damascus (from 1939).
- Taught calligraphy at the Muhsiniyya school, al-Sa'ada secondary school and the Institute of Islamic Sciences.
Taught by: Mamduh al-Sharif, Muhammad Badawi al-Dirani
His work
He died in 1982, 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 Nastaliq piece the store makes: Nastaliq collection.
Sources
- Arabic Wikipedia (citing Adnan Zarzur's biography, Syrian Scholars League 2017, and al-Abbar, al-Khattatun al-Suriyyun al-ruwwad, 2008, p. 56): born 9 Oct 1911, teachers, posts, works, died 11 Feb 1982 ar.wikipedia.org
- Commons category: portrait, signature, mihrab of Zayd mosque commons.wikimedia.org
- Wikidata: 9 Oct 1911 - 11 Feb 1982, Damascus 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).