Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti
Wasit
Yahya ibn Mahmud ibn Yahya ibn Abi al-Hasan ibn Kuwarriha al-Wasiti lived in thirteenth-century Iraq and was probably from Wasit, south of Baghdad. Almost nothing is known of his life beyond one book: a copy of the Maqamat of al-Hariri, the collection of fifty tales of the rogue Abu Zayd, which he finished in 634 AH (1237), late in the Abbasid caliphate. He wrote the text himself, in a clear naskh, and painted its scenes, signing as both copyist and illustrator. The manuscript, often called the Schefer Hariri after a later owner, is now in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (Arabe 5847). Its paintings show markets, mosques, libraries, ships and caravans with lively figures and controlled colour, and they are among the most studied works of the Baghdad school. In the 20th century Iraqi artists took al-Wasiti as a symbol of their own tradition. He is better known as a painter than as a calligrapher, but the whole text of this famous book is in his hand.
Achievements
- Copied and illustrated the Maqamat of al-Hariri finished in 634 AH (1237), the 'Schefer Hariri' (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Arabe 5847); he names himself in it as both scribe and painter.
- The manuscript has about a hundred paintings (96 by English Wikipedia's count, 'a hundred' in Arabic Wikipedia), among the best-known works of the Baghdad school.
- His paintings later inspired the modern Baghdad art movement of the 20th century.
His work
1237 (634 AH), Baghdad · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (Arabe 5847, f. 86r)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
1237 (634 AH), Baghdad · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (Arabe 5847, f. 33r)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
1237 (634 AH), Baghdad · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (Arabe 5847, f. 119v)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
634 AH / 1237 · Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris (Arabe 5847, f. 13v)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
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
- English Wikipedia: probably born in Wasit, scribe and illustrator of BnF Arabe 5847 (1237), 96 illustrations, influence on modern Baghdad art en.wikipedia.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: wrote and illustrated the 1237 Maqamat with 100 paintings, BnF 5847 ar.wikipedia.org
- BnF Gallica: Arabe 5847, Maqamat of al-Hariri, copied and painted by Yahya ibn Mahmud al-Wasiti gallica.bnf.fr
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).