JEDDAH: Nearly 55 years ago, a young Pakistani calligrapher embarked on a captivating journey to master the Islamic art form of calligraphy. Today, his work adorns the walls of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. Shafiq Uz-Zaman Khan, known in Saudi Arabia as “Al-Haram Calligrapher,” is proud that his journey into calligraphy, which began in childhood, brought him to the second holiest and largest mosque in the world.
“In my childhood I used to write on the walls of my house, other houses on our street, on school notebooks and the covers of my brothers’ books. I had a passion for beautiful handwriting,” he told Arab News. Khan, who has lived in the Kingdom for 45 years, said coming to Madinah was the probably the greatest thing happened in his life: “I spent half of my life in Madinah and wish to live the rest of my life there.
” He continued: “Living in Madinah and at the same time being the calligrapher of the Prophet’s Mosque ...
that’s unbelievable.” He finds a peace while doing calligraphy in Madinah that he has not discovered anywhere else, he added. Born in Rawalpindi and raised in Karachi, the 68-year-old’s passion for calligraphy was ignited while painting signboards for shops around the Pakistani capital to earn a modest living.
In 1979, a Saudi businessman visiting Karachi saw some of Khan’s paintings and engaged him to work at the company he owned in Riyadh. After proving his prowess as a calligrapher in the advertising industry, he was off.