Yaqut al-Musta'simi

Yaqut al-Musta'simi (Arabic: ياقوت المستعصمي) (died 1298^[1]) was a well-known calligrapher^[2][3] and secretary of the last Abbasid caliph.

Yaqut al-Musta'simi ياقوت المستعصمي
Double page from the Qur’an copied by Ya'qut al-Musta'simi in Baghdad, 1282–1283 AD (681 AH). Main text in Muhaqqaq script, incidentals in Kufic.
Born	Amaseia (modern-day Amasya, Turkey)
Died	1298
Known for	Islamic calligraphy
Patron(s)	Al-Musta'sim

Life and work

He was probably of Greek origin in Amaseia and carried off when he was very young into slavery. Made into a eunuch, he was converted to Islam as Abu’l-Majd Jamal al-Din Yaqut, better known as Yaqut al-Musta‘simi because he served Caliph al-Musta‘sim, the last Abbasid caliph.^[4]

He was a slave in the court of al-Musta'sim and went on to become a calligrapher in the Royal Court. He spent most of his life in Baghdad.^[5] He studied with the female scholar and calligrapher, Shuhda Bint Al-‘Ibari, who was herself a student in the direct line of Ibn al-Bawwab.^[6] During the Mongol invasion of Baghdad (1258), he took refuge in the minaret of a mosque so he could finish his calligraphy practice, while the city was being ransacked. His career, however, flourished under Mongol patronage.^[7] Yaqut inspired an elegant depiction of the Mongol ruler Abaqa's name on the Mongol coinage and continued to serve under the Ilkhan Rinchindorj Gaykhatu in the Ilkhanate.^[8]

He refined and codified six basic calligraphic styles of the Arabic script.^[9] Naskh script was said to have been revealed and taught to the scribe in a vision. He improved on Ibn Muqla's style by replacing the straight cut reed pen with an oblique cut, which resulted in a more elegant script.^[10] He developed Yakuti, a handwriting named after him, described as a thuluth of "a particularly elegant and beautiful type."^[1]

He taught many students, both Arab and non-Arab. His most celebrated students are Ahmad al-Suhrawardi and Yahya al-Sufi.^[11]

He became a much-celebrated calligrapher across the Arab-speaking world. His school became the model followed by Persian and Ottoman calligraphers for centuries. In the second half of the 13th century, he gained the honorific, quiblat al-kuttab [cynosure of the calligraphers].^[12]

His output was prolific. Although, he is said to have copied the Qur'an more than a thousand times,^[13] problems with attributing his work, may have contributed to exaggerated estimates.^[14] Other sources suggest that he produced 364 copies of the Q'ran.^[15]

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  Double page of Quran, dated to 1286–1287. Rayhani script. Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum
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  Two pages from the manuscript of "Divan shu’r al-Hadira" (The collected verses of Al-Hadira). Naskh and thuluth script. Freer Gallery of Art
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  Two pages from the manuscript of the 'Spiritual Words from Greek Philosophy with Sayings of the Philosophers Accompanied with their Portraits' (Al-Kalimat al-Ruhaniyya min al-Hikam al-Yunaniyya fi Kalimat al-Hukama’ wa Ashkalihim). Naskh script. Painting by Mahmud b. Abi'l-Mahasin Al-Qashi. Aga Khan Museum
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  Line in thuluth. Part of the pilgrimage guide. Library of Congress
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  Calligraphic album (Muraqqa) with arabic aphorisms in tawqi script. They were probably originally part of a manuscript and were later cut and arranged in their present form in Iran sometime in the 17th century, when the illumination was added. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art