Yemeni Calligrapher Completes One-Third of Quran Following Uthman Taha’s Endorsement

IQNA – Hassan Al-Bakouli, a Yemeni calligrapher, has announced the completion of one-third of the Quran’s transcription following the endorsement of Uthman Taha, one of the Islamic world’s most renowned calligraphers.

Al-Bakouli was granted permission by Uthman Taha to transcribe the Quran in October last year. The approval came after their meeting in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Bakouli shared an update on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), posting an image of his calligraphy featuring verses from Surah At-Tawbah. “I am grateful to God for allowing me to complete the transcription up to Surah At-Tawbah and begin work on Surah Yunus,” he wrote, Al-Mashhad Al-Yemeni reported.

Al-Bakouli had previously shared insights from his meeting with Taha, highlighting the master calligrapher’s advice and reflections on his lifelong work. “Humility enhances the beauty of calligraphy, while arrogance destroys it,” Taha told him. He also noted that Taha, now in his 90s, has transcribed the Quran fourteen times throughout his career.

“My entire body is weak except for my right hand and my eyes, but with these two, I still feel like I am seven years old,” Taha said, according to Al-Bakouli.

Taha’s Quranic transcriptions have been printed worldwide—including in Iran—has been a dominant figure in the field for decades. His work, published by the King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran in Saudi Arabia, is among the most widely distributed versions of the sacred text.

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