Saher Al-Kabi; Calligrapher of Al-Aqsa Mosque Mus’haf
Arabic calligraphy is the art of beautifully and decoratively handwriting the letters of the Arabic language. This art is used in decorating mosques, palaces, valuable data-x-items and books, especially the Quran and religious texts.
Saher al-Kabi is a Palestinian artists who learned the art of Arabic calligraphy during his stay in Baghdad, Iraq, for seven years. There, he learned the rules and principles of Arabic calligraphy with one of the most famous Arab world calligraphers, Abbas al-Baghdadi.
Saher received a certificate in Arabic calligraphy before returning to his home country.
He has calligraphed part of the Dubai Mus’haf and part of the Mus’haf of Levant as well as some poems by Mahmoud Darwish that are on display at his museum in the city of Ramallah.
Saher has also gifted many of his works to the Muslim world, including the most important one, namely the Mus’haf of Al-Aqsa Mosque (the national Mus’haf of Palestine).
He said the ink he used for calligraphy of the Mus’haf was without any acid in order to maintain the quality of the work and the paper used was also among the best.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque Mus’haf has been calligraphed based on Othman Taha script. Saher began its calligraphy at the age of 40 and the work is considered as a great achievement and a symbol of the Palestinian state’s sovereignty.
Saher was officially chosen by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in 2014 to calligraph the work. After eight months of preparations, he began the work and completed the Mus’haf in late 2019.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque Mus’haf is considered a cultural and visual heritage.
