Ibn Muqla

Ibn Muqla was a polymath, calligrapher, vizier and poet prominent in ninth and tenth century Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age. He systematized Arabic calligraphy through geometric and mathematical principles, revolutionizing the art form and beginning the classical Islamic calligraphic tradition, and he rose to serve three separate terms as vizier of the Abbasid Caliphate before losing his position to a rival and dying in prison. He is widely celebrated for inventing the Thuluth style of Islamic calligraphy along with five other styles, including Naskh, a smooth cursive script that replaced the older Kufic style as the primary script for copying the Quran; contemporaries considered his skill so great that some attributed religious and prophetic qualities to his ability, one calling him a prophet of calligraphy.