Ibn al-Bawwab
(late 10th century-1022 A.D.)
Full name:
Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali Ibn Hilal, known as Ibn al-Bawwab (“Son of the Doorman”)
What he did:
- Refined the rules of Ibn Muqla’s six scripts
- Developed a system of proportional measurement such that each letter could be measured by its height and width in dots
Biography:
- Born a commoner, the son of a doorkeeper
- Began his career as a house painter, then became a book illuminator
- Took up calligraphy, mastered the known calligraphy scripts, and developed a few new scripts
- Was an imam in a mosque in Baghdad
- Was a bit eccentric and wore odd clothes
- Wrote a famous poem about calligraphy (see right)
- Wrote 64 copies of the Koran, only one of which still exists (in Dublin’s Chester Beatty Library)
<< Ibn Muqla | Yaqut al-Musta‘simi >>
Proportional writing system using dots
Excerpts from a poem on calligraphy
In the name of God, the
merciful, the compassionate.
To him is the voyage and the
return.
O you who seek perfection of
writing and desire beautiful
calligraphy and forms,
If your dedication to writing is
true, then be pleased that
your Lord has made it easy.
Learn all the pens [styles], each
one treasured and lively, that
make the inky art like the
jeweler's craft. [...]
Don't be ashamed by the
ugliness you will write in the
first stages of your practice,
Because the job will be hard,
then easy. How often ease
comes after distress.
When you have reached the
goal you desired and you are
pleased and happy,
Thank your God and follow his
desires. God loves the
thankful.
Be pleased with your hand,
whose fingers write so well,
leaving beautiful works
behind in the abode of
illusion. [...]