Muhammad bin Al-Qasim al-Qundusi

For the Umayyad general and conqueror of Sindh, see Muhammad ibn al-Qasim. For other people with this name, see Muhammad ibn al-Qasim (disambiguation).

Muhammad Bin Al-Qāsim al-Qundūsi ( Arabic: محمد بن القاسم القندوسي; born c. 1790 – died 1861) was an Algerian Sufi calligrapher and scholar who was born in Qanaadasa in southwest Algeria.

Muhammad bin Al-Qasim al-Qundusi
محمد بن القاسم القندوسي
A Basmala by al-Qundūsi.
Born	1790 Kénadsa, southwest Algeria
Died	1861 (aged 70–71)
Known for	Calligraphy

Biography

Qanaadasa, Algeria, Muhammad al-Qundusi's birthplace.

Al-Qundusi was born in Qanaadasa in 1790 in southwest Algeria.^[1][2] In 1828, he migrated to Fes, where he lived and had a hanout in the herb market, in which he sold herbs.^[3]

He lived in relative obscurity, though those who knew him described him as gnostic, saintly, esoterically knowledgeable, and spiritually insightful.^[4]

He wrote many books and transcribed a number of dawawin, or collected works. He conferred upon the Moroccan Alawite Sultan Sliman a degree in knowledge of the Dala'il al-Khayrat, a seminal Sufi text composed by the 15th-century Muhammad al-Jazuli.^[5] al-Qundusi passed away in 1861.^[2][6]

He was a Sufi associated with the Qadiri and Nasiri orders.^[7]

Calligraphy

He was a talented calligrapher, specializing in a flamboyant style of the Maghrebi script that he innovated. He also created a copy of the Quran in 12 volumes which he finished on September 7–8, 1850, and which is kept in al-Khizāna al-Ḥassania.^[8] He drew the name of Allah in the Zawiya of Idriss II in Fes.^[9]

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  Surah Al-'Alaq of the Quran written with Al-Qundusi calligraphy, Islamic Calligraphy Museum of Tlemcen.
• 
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  A composition of the name Allah by al-Qundusi displayed at the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II in Fes.

Works

His works include:

• التأسيس في مساوي الدنيا ومهاوي إبليس.^[10] completed 1838^[11]
• البوارق الأحمدية في الحركة والسكونية
• الصلاة الوافية من الأحوال الظلمانية
• التلوين والتمكين في مطلع الصلاة على صاحب الوحي المبين completed 1852
• The Drink of the People of Purity in Prayers upon the Chosen Prophet^[12] (or شراب أهل الصفا في الصلاة على النبي المصطفى), also known as طريق المعراج إلى حضرة صاحب التاج completed in 1838
• The Grand Elixir of Invocations سيف العناية لمريد الكفاية
  • تقاييد في الاسم اللطيف^[13]
  • مختصر في أسماء الله الحسنى^[13]

Legacy

Most of his works are now kept at the national library in Rabat.^[14]

His works inspired a typeface called Qandus,^[15] which was designed by Kristyan Sarkis of TPTQ Arabic, and won the Type Directors Club's 2017 Typeface Design Award.^[16]

References

1. Pierre Joris, Habib Tengour (1995). Poems for the Millennium, Volume Four The University of California Book of North African Literature. Univ of California Press. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-520-26913-2.
2. الأعلام - ج 7 - محمد بن قاسم - نافع بن الحارث (in Arabic). IslamKotob. Archived from the original on 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
3. IslamKotob. الشرب المحضر والسر المنتظر من معين أهل القرن الثالث عشر (in Arabic). IslamKotob.
4. "Muhammad al-Qandusi". Awliya Map. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
5. أبي عبد الله محمد بن (2015-01-01). طريق المعراج إلى حضرة صاحب التاج (in Arabic). Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية. ISBN 978-2-7451-7515-1. Archived from the original on 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
6. البهنسي, عفيف (1995). معجم مصطلحات الخط العربي والخطاطين (الأولى ed.). بيروت: مكتبة لبنان ناشرون. p. 123.
7. "The Grand Elixir of Invocations". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
8. الأعلام - خير الدين الزركلي - ج 7 - الصفحة 9
9. أبي عبد الله محمد بن (2015-01-01). طريق المعراج إلى حضرة صاحب التاج (in Arabic). Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية. ISBN 978-2-7451-7515-1. Archived from the original on 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
10. الأعلام - ج 7 - محمد بن قاسم - نافع بن الحارث. IslamKotob. Archived from the original on 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
11. طريق المعراج إلى حضرة صاحب التاج. Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية. 2015-01-01. ISBN 978-2-7451-7515-1. Archived from the original on 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
12. al-Qandusi, Muhammad Bin al-Qasim (2014). The Drink of the People of Purity. Muhammadan Press. ISBN 978-9810904135.
13. طريق المعراج إلى حضرة صاحب التاج. Dar Al Kotob Al Ilmiyah دار الكتب العلمية. 2015-01-01. ISBN 978-2-7451-7515-1. Archived from the original on 2019-12-20. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
14. Habib., Joris, Pierre. Tengour (2012). Poems for the millennium : the University of California book of North African literature. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95379-6. OCLC 879553614.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
15. "Qandus – Laura Meseguer". Retrieved 2019-12-20.
16. "Typeface Design 2017". Retrieved 2019-12-20.