Ibn Muqla

Ibn Muqla was a polymath, calligrapher, vizier, and poet prominent in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age.

Born in 9th century Baghdad, Ibn Muqla systematized Arabic calligraphy through geometric and mathematical principles, revolutionizing the art form and beginning the classical Islamic calligraphic tradition. Rising to high state posts as a young man, his career culminated in his assumption of the senior ministerial title of the Abbasid Caliphate, the vizierate, thrice: in 928–930, 932–933 and 934–936. Unable to successfully challenge the growing power of regional emirs, he lost his position to the first amir al-umara, Ibn Ra'iq, and died in prison.

He is widely celebrated for inventing the Thuluth style of Islamic calligraphy along with five other styles–including Naskh, a smooth cursive style that replaced the older Kūfi style as the primary script for writing manuscripts of the Qur'an. His skill in the art of calligraphy was so great that his contemporaries are recorded to have attributed religious and prophetic attributes to his abilities, with one contemporary calling him a "prophet of calligraphy." His career in public service began when he served as tax collector. His rise to power in the central government came in 908, under the patronage of the powerful vizier Abu 'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat, who appointed him in charge of official dispatches. Ibn Muqla was revered as 'a prophet in the field of handwriting; it was poured upon his hand, even as it was revealed to the bees to make their honey cells hexagonal'. He or his brothers have been considered the originators of the so-called al-khatt al-mansub ("proportioned script") style, perfected by the 11th-century calligrapher Ibn al-Bawwab. "Khatt" refers to the "marking out" of lines, which suggests that calligraphy is a demarcation of space. In the al-khatt al-mansub system letter design is related to three measurements: the size of nuqta; the height of the alif; and the circle with a diameter equal to the height of the alif.

None of Ibn Muqla's authentic work exists today, his work is only known through other sources like Ibn al-Nadim.