سید ضیاءالدین امامی دهکردی | Seyed Ziaeddin Emami Dehkordi (Son of Ayatollah Seyed Mohammad Baqer Emami Najafi Dehkordi and Begum Khanom Emami)
Seyed Ziaeddin Emami Dehkordi was a pioneering contemporary Iranian painter and the founder of the “School of Light” (Maktab-e Nour) and the “Emamiyeh” style. Born in Shahrekord into a distinguished religious family, he migrated to Isfahan in 1935, where he studied at the Isfahan School of Fine Arts under Master Isa Bahadori. His early career was marked by academic training in traditional Iranian arts, but his style underwent a major transformation in the 1960s at the Faculty of Decorative Arts in Tehran, where he was a contemporary of the Saqqa-khaneh movement pioneers.

Emami’s artistic philosophy was deeply rooted in Islamic wisdom and mysticism (Hikmat), viewing art as a form of spiritual discovery and “visual music”. He is renowned for integrating Quranic verses and traditional motifs into modern, multi-layered geometric compositions where light emanates from within the forms. His masterpiece, “Tasbih-e Zarrat” (Glorification of Particles), won the Golden Brush at the 1995 Tehran Painting Biennial. His most ambitious project was the creation of the world’s first “Visual Quran”—a continuous 70-meter scroll that took over 20 years to complete, translating all 30 parts of the Quran into light and color. He dedicated decades to teaching at the Tehran University of Art and the University of Art Isfahan before passing away in Isfahan in 2008.
Active in other fields:
Education: Long-term faculty member at Tehran University of Art and the University of Art Isfahan (Pardis).
Philosophy & Mysticism: Research and study in Islamic sapiential sciences and spiritual philosophy.
Literature & Ethics: Teaching literature and (Islamic ethics) in high schools such as Daralfonun.