This article is about a 17th century calligrapher. For the Singaporean footballer, see Hafiz Osman

Hafiz Osman

This article is about a modern footballer. For the 17th century calligrapher, see Hâfiz Osman.Hafiz Osman is a professional soccer player who plays for the Singapore Armed Forces Football Club in the S.League and the Singapore national football team.He is a natural right full back.-International...

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Hâfiz Osman ( Modern Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

: Hâfız Osman) (1642 – 1698) was an Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 calligrapher.

Hâfiz Osman was a Dervish

Dervish

A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...

; he was born in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

. He was tutor to the sultans Ahmed II

Ahmed II

Ahmed II Khan Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1691 to 1695...

, Mustafa II

Mustafa II

Mustafa II Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703.-Life:...

 and Ahmed III

Ahmed III

Ahmed III was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and a son of Sultan Mehmed IV . His mother was Mâh-Pâre Ummatullah Râbi'a Gül-Nûş Valide Sultan, originally named Evmania Voria, who was an ethnic Greek. He was born at Hajioglupazari, in Dobruja...

 , and was esteemed by the sultan Mustafa II

Mustafa II

Mustafa II Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1695 to 1703.-Life:...

 who held his inkwell as he wrote.

Hâfiz Osman is credited with establishing the hilye. A hilye is a calligraphic panel containing a hadith

Hadith

The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....

-based text describing the Prophet's physical appearance and attributes. Hâfiz Osman incorporated such texts, which had been popular for some time, in a formal design that soon became standard for this art form. Hilyeler 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 Muhammad's appearance, they complied with the strictures against figurative depictions of the Prophet, leaving his appearance to the viewer's imagination.

Hâfiz Osman is also credited with reinvigorating the tradition of Seyh Hamdullah, in particular with re-introducing a number of scripts that had fallen into disuse. Among his surviving works are copies of the Koran held at the Topkapi Palace

Topkapi Palace

The Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624-year reign....

Museum Library in Istanbul and the Nasser D. Khalili Collection.