Background
Osman Den Ali was born in 1642 in Istanbul, Turkey. He was of Dervish origin and worked under the name of Hafiz Osman. His father was a muezzin at the Khassèki mosque, a position which afforded he and his family great protection.
Osman Den Ali was born in 1642 in Istanbul, Turkey. He was of Dervish origin and worked under the name of Hafiz Osman. His father was a muezzin at the Khassèki mosque, a position which afforded he and his family great protection.
Hafiz received his formal training with Suyolcuzade Mustafa Eyyubi and Derviş Ali. He studied nashk and sulus with Derviş Ali, and was certified by Suyolcuzade Mustafa Eyyubi.
Hafiz became an accomplished calligrapher and was a tutor to the sultans Ahmed II, Mustafa II and Ahmed III, and was held in high esteem by the sultan Mustafa II, who, according to legend often watched him work and held his inkwell as he wrote. Osman admired the work of the 15th-century calligrapher, Seyh Hamdullah, and spent many hours copying his works assiduously in order to perfect his craft.
Osman revived some of the six scripts that had fallen into disuse. These scripts underwent a process of purification and became known as "Hafiz Osman's style". The younger generation of calligraphers preferred this style, and it gradually replaced Hamdullah's style. His hilye became the standard layout in the Ottoman world.
A hilye is a calligraphic panel containing a hadith-based text describing the Prophet's physical appearance and attributes. Hafiz Osman incorporated such texts, which had been popular for some time, in a formal design that soon became standard for this art form. Hilye came to be used as wall decorations or surface adornments, fulfilling much the same function as figurative paintings in other religious traditions. While containing a concrete and artistically appealing description of Prophet's appearance, they complied with the strictures against figurative depictions of the Prophet, leaving his appearance to the viewer's imagination.
Hafiz gave lessons to the poor on Sundays and lessons to the wealthy on Wednesdays. Throughout his lifetime, he trained a large number of calligraphers, of whom the finest was Yedikuleli Seyyid 'Abdullah Efendi.