Ibn al-Bawwab

Ibn al-Bawwab, also known as Ali ibn Hilal or Abu'l Hasan, was an Arabic calligrapher and manuscript illuminator active in Baghdad in the early eleventh century, born around 975 or 1000 to a poor family and dying in 1022 or 1031. His name, meaning son of the doorkeeper, reflects his humble origins. He is the figure most associated with the adoption of round script for transcribing the Quran, perfecting the style known as al khatt al mansub, the well proportioned script, and advancing the naskh, thuluth, rayhani, tawqi and muhaqqaq scripts, marking a decisive shift from the earlier angular Kufic script toward more legible cursive forms. He is said to have produced sixty four copies of the Quran, though only one surviving manuscript bears his name, a Quran now held in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, notable as the earliest known paper based Quran manuscript. His innovations in script and manuscript design influenced generations of calligraphers who followed him.