Mir Emad (born Emad al-Molk Qazvini Hasani (),‎ 1554 – August 15, 1615) is perhaps the most celebrated Persian

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

. He was born in

Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. It is believed that the

Nastaʿlīq ''Nastaliq'' (; ; ), also romanized as ''Nastaʿlīq'' or ''Nastaleeq'' (), is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write Arabic script and is used for some Indo-Iranian languages, predominantly Classical Persian, Kashmiri, Punjabi a ...

style reached its highest elegance in Mir Emad's works. These are considered amongst the finest specimens of

calligraphy and are kept in several museums in the world.

Early life and education

Mir Emad was born in

, where he had his early education. Mir Emad's family had librarian and accountant positions in

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

court. He was trained in calligraphy at first by Isa Rangkar and then Malek Deylami. Mir Emad later on moved to

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

to study with Mohammad Hossein Tabrizi. Afterward, he traveled to

Ottoman Turkey The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Central Euro ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Halab Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

and Hijaz. He returned to Semnan and worked as a scribe in Shah Abbas's library and later on his court in the capital of

Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...

Rivalry with Ali Reza Abbasi

In Shah Abbas's court, Mir Emad was not the only calligrapher. Ali Reza Abbasi Tabrizi, another famous calligrapher, was also under Shah's patronage. Ali Reza Abbasi's was also a pupil of Mohammad Hossein Tabrizi (Mir Emad's teacher) and later on became Mir Emad's opponent.

Death

Mir Emad was later accused of being

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

, a branch of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

which was not tolerated under

Safavids The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

and implicitly sentenced to death by Shah Abbas. In a night, on his way to

Hamam A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the Islamic culture, culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...

, Mir Emad was assassinated by Masud Beik Mesgar Qazvini and for several days no one dared to bury his corpse. Finally his pupil, Abu Torab Khattat Esfahani, buried him in Maghsoudbeyk mosque. He was not allowed to build a mausoleum for Mir Emad.

Works and legacy

"Adab al-Masq", a dissertation on penmanship, is attributed to Mir Emad.

Goharshad Gawhar Shad (; meaning "joyful jewel" or "shining jewel"; also Gawhar Shad Begum, Gohar Shād or Gawharshâd; died 19 July 1457) was the chief consort of Shah Rukh, the emperor of the Timurid Empire. Life She was the daughter of Giāth ud-Din T ...

, Mir Emad's daughter, was also an adept

. So was her husband, Mir Mohammad Ali and her sons Mir Rashid, Mir Abd al-Razzaq and Mir Yahya. Mir Emad's son, Mirza Ebrahim, is also known to be a

. So is Mohammad Amin, Mirza Ebrahim's son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassani, Mir Emad 16th-century calligraphers from Safavid Iran People from Qazvin 1554 births 1615 deaths Iranian scribes 17th-century calligraphers from Safavid Iran 17th-century Iranian painters 16th-century Iranian painters

Early life and education

Rivalry with Ali Reza Abbasi

Death

Works and legacy

See also

References