Pir Yahya al-Sufi (Yahya al-Jamali al-Sufi)
Pir Yahya al-Jamali al-Sufi worked in Shiraz in the 1340s at the courts of the Injuids and later the Muzaffarids, after earlier service with patrons who included the Ilkhanid amir Chupan. Encyclopaedia Iranica says he was reputedly a pupil of Ahmad Rumi and of Mubarakshah ibn Qutb, both followers of Yaqut al-Musta'simi. His dated Qur'ans and specimens run from 731 to 746 AH (1330–45); the earliest Qur'an, of 739 AH (1338–39), is in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul. His largest work is a multi-volume Qur'an in gold muhaqqaq dated 745–46 AH (1344–45), part of which is in the Pars Museum, Shiraz. He also designed inscriptions: a thuluth band round the Khoda-khana of the old mosque of Shiraz, and an eleven-line text at Persepolis recording a visit by the Injuid ruler Abu Ishaq in 1347.
Achievements
- His dated Qur'ans and specimens run from 731 to 746 AH (1330–45).
- Copied a multi-volume Qur'an in gold muhaqqaq in 745–46 AH (1344–45); part is in the Pars Museum, Shiraz (ms. 456).
- Designed an eleven-line inscription at Persepolis recording the Injuid ruler Abu Ishaq's visit in Rabi I 748 AH (June 1347).
- Designed the thuluth inscription in brick and glazed tile round the Khoda-khana of the old mosque of Shiraz.
- Copied a Qur'an commissioned by Tashi Khatun, mother of Abu Ishaq.
Taught by: Ahmad Rumi, Mubarakshah ibn Qutb
His work
about 1339 · Istanbul University Library
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain
1338–1339 · Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Istanbul
Photo: Francesco Bini, Wikimedia Commons (Periodo ilkhanide, yahya el-sufi calligrafo, manoscritto del corano, 1338-39 (730 egira).jpg), CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
These are the works in open collections that can be attributed with certainty.
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 Thuluth piece the store makes: Thuluth collection.
Sources
- identity wikidata.org
- main source: Shiraz 1340s, Injuid and Muzaffarid courts, Amir Chupan, teachers Ahmad Rumi and Mubarakshah, works 731/1330–746/1345, TIEM Qur'an 739, Pars Museum muhaqqaq Qur'an, Persepolis and Shiraz inscriptions iranicaonline.org
- Persian name, Abu Ishaq Inju patronage, listed among Yaqut's seven pupils, Masjed-e Atiq stone inscription in muhaqqaq, Pars Museum 30-part Qur'an (746) in thuluth with rayhan and riqa fa.wikipedia.org
- names Yahya al-Sufi as a celebrated pupil of Yaqut en.wikipedia.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).