Hafiz Muhammad Yusuf Sadidi
1927–1986 · Bhon, Punjab
Hafiz Muhammad Yusuf Sadidi was a Pakistani calligrapher of the Lahore school. Born in 1927 in the village of Bhon in Chakwal district, he memorised the Quran as a boy, completing it at the Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore, hence the title Hafiz. He learned calligraphy from Munshi Muhammad Sharif, son of Muhammad Qasim Ludhianvi, and also from the Delhi calligrapher Munshi Mahmud Alam. Nastaliq was his main hand, but he also wrote thuluth, naskh, muhaqqaq, diwani and kufic. From 1948 to 1981 he wrote for the Lahore daily Imroz, and then worked for an advertising firm in Jeddah. His inscriptions are on the Minar-e-Pakistan, the tomb of Muhammad Iqbal and the tomb of Qutb al-Din Aibak. He received the Pride of Performance award in 1982 and wrote a manual, Ta'lim al-Naskh. A road accident in 1985 stopped his work; he died in 1986 and is buried in Lahore.
Achievements
- Wrote inscriptions for the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore, with other calligraphers.
- Wrote inscriptions at the tomb of Muhammad Iqbal and the tomb of Qutb al-Din Aibak in Lahore.
- Calligrapher for the Lahore daily Imroz from 1948 to 1981.
- Received the Pride of Performance award in 1982.
- Wrote Ta'lim al-Naskh, a book on calligraphy.
- Taught Khurshid Alam Gohar Qalam.
Taught by: Munshi Muhammad Sharif, son of Muhammad Qasim Ludhianvi, Munshi Mahmud Alam of Delhi
Taught: Khurshid Alam Gohar Qalam
His work
Died in 1986: the works are still protected by copyright, so we show them only with the permission of those who hold the rights.
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
- ur.wikipedia: birth 1927 Bhon (Chakwal), Hafiz, teachers, scripts, buildings, Imroz 1948-1981, Jeddah, Pride of Performance 1982, accident 1985, death 13 Sep 1986, Ta'lim al-Naskh, student Gohar Qalam; cites Pirzada Muhammad Iqbal Faruqi, Tazkira Ulama Ahl-e Sunnat Lahore, p. 421 ur.wikipedia.org
- ur.wikipedia Minar-e-Pakistan: calligraphy by Hafiz Muhammad Yusuf Sadidi with Sufi Khurshid Alam, Muhammad Siddiq Almas Raqam, Ibn Parveen Raqam and Muhammad Iqbal ur.wikipedia.org
- en.wikipedia: Sadidi among the calligraphers of the Lahore and Delhi resolutions on marble at Minar-e-Pakistan en.wikipedia.org
- en.wikipedia: Gohar Qalam studied under Hafiz Muhammad Yousaf Sadidi en.wikipedia.org
- Wikidata: born 1927 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).