Sultan Al-Maqtari

Brief Biography:

• Name: Sultan Mohammed Saeed Al-Maqtari.
• Date of Birth: 1962 in Aden, Yemen.
• Specialization: Design of digital and heritage Arabic fonts, and Arabic calligraphy.
• Education: Master's Degree in Sociology from the Academy of Political and Military Sciences in Moscow (1992).
• Studio: Founder of Sultan Fonts Studio (2003).

Key Achievements:

Introduction of the Musnad Script to Unicode (2007):

• In collaboration with Kamal Mansour, presented the technical proposal L2/08-044, contributing to the inclusion of the ancient South Arabian script (Musnad) in Unicode version 5.2 (2009).
• Developed 11 digital fonts for Musnad, in addition to a virtual keyboard for writing in this script (2018).
• Published a booklet for teaching Musnad script writing (2022).

Design of Innovative Arabic Fonts:

Created more than 230 Arabic fonts between 2003 and 2025, including:

• Fonts such as Sultan, Mada, Ruq'ah, Awsan, Nizar, Yazan, Aden، and Elias.
• Fonts inspired by heritage such as Kufi al-Qayrawani and Maghribi Mabsout.
• A digital font in the Naskh style that mimics the handwriting of Quranic and literary works (2008–2011).

Preservation of Yemeni Heritage:

• Revived the ancient Zabur script (another Yemeni writing system) through a digital font (2020).
• Delivered lectures and organized exhibitions on the history of Musnad script, including his lecture at the Sharjah Arabic Calligraphy Forum in 2022 titled: "Musnad Script: From Stone Inscriptions to Digitization."
• Developed a digital tool for writing in Musnad and Zabur (containing textual and audio input) available to all (2025). Presented in paper to Aden University / Department of Arts.

Awards and Honors:

• First Place Award for the Text Fonts category in the Dubai International Printing Competition (2006).
• Medal from the Sharjah Arabic Calligraphy Forum (2010).
• Certificate of Appreciation from the King Fahd Complex for Printing the Holy Quran (2011).
• Silver Award in the Huroof International Arabic Type Design Competition in Kuwait (2014).
• Certificate of Appreciation from the Tenth Arabic Calligraphy Forum in Sharjah (2022).

Significance of His Work:

• Combining Tradition and Modernity: Integrating classic Arabic scripts (such as Kufic and Musnad) with digital innovation.
• Enhancing Arab Visual Identity: His fonts have contributed to shaping brand identities and editorial designs across the Arab world and globally.
• Documenting Endangered Heritage: Preserving ancient Yemeni scripts (Musnad and Zabur) from extinction through digitization.

His Role in Musnad encoding:

• One of the first Arabs to actively participate in encoding an ancient Arabic script within the Unicode system, contributing to breaking the stereotype of efforts dominated by the West.
• His collaboration with the University of California (2007) highlights the importance of global partnerships in preserving cultural heritage.

Cultural Legacy:

• Inspiration for new generations: It proved that technology can protect heritage instead of erasing it.
• Symbol of national excellence: It showed that creativity knows no bounds, even amidst the challenges facing his country.

Conclusion:

Al-Maqtari's work is not purely technical; rather, it is an act of cultural resistance, aiming to preserve the memory of ancient Sabaean and Hadrami civilizations for future generations. His journey embodies how passion and determination can transform a childhood love of letters into a global legacy.

In short, Sultan Al-Muqattari is considered a symbol of the Arab artist who has transformed his love for Arabic calligraphy into a global project that preserves the identity of his nation and enriches human culture.