 In 1937, he began working for the Department of Public Survey in Baghdad, where he produced maps.Some years later, he served an apprenticeship with Mulla Muhammad ‛Ali al-Fadli (d. 1948), who awarded him a Diploma in Calligraphy in 1943.In 1944 he continued his studies at the Tahsin al-Khuthuth Madrasah (Royal Institute of Calligraphy) in Cairo, where he was taught by Sayyid Ibrahim and Mohammad Hosni and obtained a Diploma with honours in 1944.