Sultan ibn Nasir al-Juburi
1661–1725 · al-Khabur
Jamal al-Din Sultan ibn Nasir al-Juburi was a Shafi'i scholar of Baghdad, born in 1072/1661 in al-Khabur near Deir ez-Zor. His family moved by way of Mosul to Baghdad, where he studied the Qur'anic readings with Umar ibn Husayn al-Juburi and received an ijaza in them in 1677 from Abd al-Qadir ibn Yahya al-Basri. At about twenty-eight he travelled to Syria, Egypt and the Hijaz, studying with scholars such as Muhammad al-Baqari in Cairo and Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi in Damascus, then came home to teach at the Marjaniyya and Isma'iliyya madrasas. He is remembered chiefly as a scholar of readings and grammar, but he was also a fine copyist: his manuscript of a gloss on al-Jurjani's commentary is valued for the beauty and precision of its hand, and the author of Jawahir al-khattatin names him among the foremost calligraphers of the 12th century AH. He died in 1138/1725 on the road to the pilgrimage and was buried in Buraydah.
Achievements
- Taught at the Marjaniyya and Isma'iliyya madrasas in Baghdad and was known as a master of the Qur'anic readings.
- His copy of a gloss on al-Jurjani's commentary is counted a work of calligraphy for its fine, careful hand; the book Jawahir al-khattatin lists him among the leading calligraphers of the 12th century AH.
- Copied by hand Shams al-Din al-Samarqandi's geometry text Ashkal al-ta'sis.
Taught by: Umar ibn Husayn al-Juburi, Abd al-Qadir ibn Yahya al-Basri
Taught: Abd Allah ibn Husayn al-Suwaydi
His work
No photograph of a manuscript in his hand was found on Commons.
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: life, teachers, travels, madrasas, students, works; cites Jawahir al-khattatin for his place among 12th-century AH calligraphers; d. 1138/1725 (or 1726), buried Buraydah ar.wikipedia.org
- Wikidata: 1661-1725 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).