Renowned calligrapher and professor of Calligraphy at National College of Arts (NCA) Khurshid Alam Gohar Qalam laid to rest on Tuesday at Miani Sahib Graveyard in Lahore. He was 64.

His student, also a renowned calligrapher, Munawar Shabir said, “My teacher’s funeral prayers were offered at Janazgah No 2 at Bahawalpur Road at 2pm on Tuesday. Ustad Gohar Qalam was laid to rest near Ghazi Ilmuddin Shaheed shrine.”

Gohar Qalam breathed his last at the Shaikh Zayed Hospital on Monday after suffering from liver and stomach complications.

Gohar Qalam was born in Sargodha district in 1956 and got education at Bhera and Lahore and learnt calligraphy from Hafiz Muhammad Yousaf Sadidi and was given the title of Gohar Qalam for his excellence in the art of calligraphy. He received the Pride of Performance Award in 1991.

Gohar Qalam was a master of many styles of calligraphy, including Lahori Nastaleeq, Thuluth Kufic, Muhaqiq, Naskh, Tughra, Dewani, Ruqqaa Sumbali, Tajaweedh, Moshahy, Jaleel, Thuluth-e-Kabeer, Narjiss, Ijazaa, Thuluthian, English Gothic. He is also a master of cubist calligraphic art.

His calligraphy works are displayed at Faisal Mosque in Islamabad, Data Ganj Bakhsh shrine in Lahore, London Museum, Ashmolean museum in Oxford and in Moscow museum. He penned over 28 books on the art of calligraphy.