Sami Efendi
1838–1912 · Istanbul
The last great master of the imperial chancery styles. Sami perfected Jali Thuluth outlines so precise that his stencils were treated as state treasures, and raised Diwani Jali and the tughra to their final Ottoman form. Nearly every commercial and mosque inscription of late Istanbul passed through him or his students. His maxim to them survives: 'The script is not written — it is drawn, corrected, and drawn again.'
Key works: Yeni Cami sebil inscriptions; canonical Diwani Jali models.
Achievements
- Gave the vowel signs, ornaments and date numerals of jali thuluth the settled form used since (TDV).
- Drew the tughras of Sultans Abdülaziz, Abdülhamid II and Mehmed Reşad.
- Formed his own jali thuluth manner by applying İsmail Zühdi's thuluth letters to Mustafa Rakım's jali.
- Taught the various scripts at the Imperial Council from 1878 and calligraphy in Topkapı Palace.
- His Yeni Valide sebil inscription at Bahçekapı (1325/1907) still serves calligraphers as a model template.
- Several of his pupils taught at the Medresetü'l-hattâtîn, the calligraphy school opened in 1915.
Taught by: Boşnak Osman Efendi, Mümtaz Efendi, Nâsıh Efendi, Mehmed Şâkir Recâi Efendi, Kıbrısîzâde İsmâil Hakkı Efendi, Melekpaşazâde Ali Haydar Bey
Taught: Kâmil Akdik, Mehmed Hulusi Yazgan (Hulusi Efendi), İsmail Hakkı Altunbezer, Mehmed Nazif Bey (Hacı Nazif Bey), Ferid Bey, Hacı Hasan Rıza Efendi, Mehmed Abdülaziz Rifâî (Hattat Aziz Efendi), Elmalılı Hamdi Yazır, Ömer Vasfi Efendi, Re'fet Efendi, Neyzen Emin Yazıcı, Sofu Mehmed Hamdi Efendi, Necmeddin Okyay, Enderunlu Ahmed Râkım Boren, Suud Yavsî, Ahmed Ziyâ Akbulut
His work
1880 · Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Istanbul
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
1906 · Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Istanbul
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
1900–1901 · Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Istanbul
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
dated 1273 AH (1857) · private collection
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Write in this tradition now →Write in Thuluth yourself, free: the Thuluth calligraphy generator · your name in Arabic calligraphy
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, 'SÂMİ EFENDİ, İsmâil Hakkı' (M. Uğur Derman): names, teachers, posts, jali reforms, students, inscriptions islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
- English Wikipedia (contains errors, see doubts) en.wikipedia.org
- Turkish Wikipedia: death 1 July 1912 at Horhor, burial at Fatih tr.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: Arabic name form محمد سامي, students list ar.wikipedia.org
- Wikidata item 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).