Depth
At a glance
- Roles
- calligrapher
- Era
- The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
- Identifiers
- Wikidata
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Life in time
Summary
Abu'l-Hasan 'Ali b. Hilal, known as Ibn al-Bawwab the celebrated calligrapher; none before or after has written like him or come near. Abu 'Ali Ibn Muqla was first to transpose this style from the Kufan script and has the merit of priority — but Ibn al-Bawwab refined and perfected his way and clothed it in grace and splendour. 1
Name and master
He is also called Ibn al-Sitri, for his father was a bawwab — the keeper of the door's curtain; his master in writing was Ibn Asad the katib, Abu 'Abdallah Muhammad b. Asad, reciter, katib and clothier of Baghdad. 1
Sources
- Wafayat al-A'yan wa-Anba' Abna' al-Zaman — Ibn Khallikan
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Ibn al-Bawwab”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/person/ibn-al-bawwab/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.